Sky Sports have reported today that they “understand” that Middlesbrough have made a bid for Ross McCormack, with Blackpool also showing interest.

The obvious question is why on earth McCormack would want to leave Leeds to go to Boro at this particular time, just as Bates has gone and the feel-good factor has returned to Elland Road. It’s not as if there’s any reason to think that a move to the Riverside is going to get him any closer to Premier League football.

In the last two seasons Middlesboro have made promising starts under Tony Mowbray, only for their form to collapse after Christmas and leave them down in the middle of the final table. This year the rot has set in rather early, with a disappointing home defeat to Leicester on the opening day, which is not exactly what they need to attract players of the calibre of McCormack to move to Teesside.

The involvement of Blackpool is even more laughable, as the limits of their finances mean they face a difficult season after releasing a number of senior players over the same. At least they managed to beat Doncaster on the opening day, but Paul Ince’s record as a manager is patchy to say the least and I just can’t see what they could offer to tempt McCormack away from a possible promotion campaign at Leeds.

The Sky article doesn’t include any quotes from either club or the player and it would seem to be a piece of pure speculation. McCormack has two years of his current contract still to run, so Leeds aren’t yet in a position where we have to cash in, and with Bates gone he might have a chance of being offered a decent deal when the time does come to re-negotiate.

I can see why Boro would want McCormack, as their top scorer last season was Scott McDonald with a mere 12 goals, but we can safely say that he won’t be heading for Teesside any time soon.

As the end of the transfer window approaches we can look forward to more of these sort of stories, but while GFH are looking for further investment they have backed the manager so far, and McDermott is not under any pressure to sell any of his key players.

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