Middlesbrough manager Neil Warnock has insisted that there are not any key players at the Riverside that are telling him they want to leave the club in the summer.

It is going to be a massively important summer transfer window for Boro who will be needing to make the right sort of additions to their squad to take them to the next level. Warnock has already revealed that he knows what he wants his squad to look like at the start of next season. He will be hoping that he gets the backing needed to make that a reality.

Boro are also going to need to keep hold of key players like Dael Fry and Marcus Tavernier in the summer if they are to challenge for promotion. Fry has already been linked with a potential move to Premier League Burnley, while Tavernier is reportedly attracting interest from the likes of Newcastle United and Everton. That suggests it is going to be a nervous summer over their futures.

Speaking to Teesside Live, Warnock has insisted that none of Boro’s key players have been suggesting that there are itching to make a move away to a higher level this summer. Whilst he also reiterated that it would take huge offers from other clubs for them to contemplate selling the likes of Fry and Tavernier.

He said: “I’m sure there will be speculation in the coming weeks.

“But the lads concerned know, forget about reading the papers in the next few weeks because you’re not going anywhere.

“There isn’t anybody knocking on my door saying, ‘I want to go to the Premier League’ or ‘My agent has said this and that’.

“They all want to help Middlesbrough do well and it’s a great place to be.

“There will probably be some players going out next season.

“But hopefully we won’t get any offers for the type of players I’m talking about.

“It would take ridiculous offers for us to let the key players go.”

The verdict

This is a very encouraging message from Warnock and it does go with the sort of messages we have been hearing from the Middlesbrough manager consistently over the last few months. It is clear that he will not be wanting the club to entertain offers for the likes of Fry and Tavernier with them two, in particular, going to be crucial to their ambitions next term.

There is going to be interest in the summer in those kinds of players and it will be interesting to see what Middlesbrough’s approach will be to such offers if they do come in for them. Warnock will be wanting them to keep hold of them and if they were to sell would be expecting them to reinvest most of the money on replacements.

Those players do seem to be content to remain with Middlesbrough, but it would be interesting to see whether that changes if any offers were to come in for them at some stage. You would back Warnock’s experience to handle that situation if it were to arise.