Middlesbrough remain in the hunt to sign Matthew Hoppe from Mallorca, although they face fierce competition to land the striker.

It's no secret that Chris Wilder is keen to bring in a few new options up top, and Hoppe emerged as a genuine target last week. Despite that, Boro have been unable to reach an agreement with the Spanish side, with little progress seemingly made.

However, in a fresh development, ESPN have confirmed that the Teesside outfit are seriously keen on the 21-year-old, whilst they added the offer from Boro was better than the one put forward by MLS side San Jose Earthquakes.

Crucially, they add that Hoppe, who has won six caps for USA, would prefer to stay in Europe, but there is rival interest from two unnamed Belgian clubs.

So, further talks are expected as Boro look to reach an agreement with Mallorca, who turned down an offer that would see Hoppe join on loan at first with the option to make it a permanent one.

Boro are back in action against QPR this weekend.

The verdict

It's clear that Boro are in talks with plenty of targets at the moment and Hoppe is someone firmly on their radar.

Given his age, potential and the fact he should be able to make an instant impact, he would appear to be a very good addition if the recruitment team can pull this off.

But, this update shows that there is still work to be done, and you would expect negotiations to carry on over the coming days and it will be interesting to see if Boro can make a breakthrough given the competition for Hoppe.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.