Earlier today we reported that Finn Azaz was on Saints radar and that the rumour where that Aston Villa were ready to cash in on their player before his contract expires in the summer, the first step has happened but is Southampton his destination.
Saints are said to be interested in signing Finn Azaz, they see him as a good value option to boost the promotion push, but it seems that although Aston Villa have actioned the the first moves in selling Azaz by recalling him from his loan spell at Plymouth, it is not Southampton who are favourites to sign him.
Reports from local media outlet Teeside Live suggest that Middlesbrough are already in talks with Aston Villa to take Azaz to the Riverside.
They say that Boro are offering Villa somewhere between £2-2.5 million for the attacking midfielder, however there is a word of caution in that Azaz has not yet been in talks with Boro and there is a worry on Teeside that the deal could be hijacked by Southampton.
Boro are in the semi finals of the Carabao Cup, however that is not a carrot to dangle in front of Azaz as he is cup tied in the competition having already played for Plymouth Argyle earlier in the season
As it stands this evening Middlesbrough look to be in the driving seat in this one, given they are open in their interest, but Saints can have the money to afford to take a gamble with the fee being so low due to the player being out of contract in the summer and they can also offer a far better chance of Premier League football next season than Boro who although they sit in 12th place are only 4 points off the top 6, but there are a lot of clubs scrambliing around them. so it might not be over for Saints yet.