Tomas Kalas has conceded he would have to think seriously about a permanent switch to Middlesbrough if he was offered the chance to play for the club in the Premier League.
The Czech Republic international, 23, has spent the past 16 months on loan at the Riverside Stadium from Chelsea, where he signed a new three-year deal last summer.
However, the defender has made only two starts for the Blues since arriving from Sigma Olomouc in January 2011, compared with the 47 appearances he has made for Boro.
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Kalas told the Evening Gazette: "I don't know how many games I've played since I came – probably around 40, which is not bad in one-and-a-half years.
“That’s why I came here, to play games and hopefully I’ll keep playing next season – maybe here.
“If I could get the deal [to move to Boro permanently], I would really think about it. Yes, why not?”
Manager Aitor Karanka and chairman Steve Gibson are already planning for life in the top flight following a seven-year absence after the club finally secured its return by finishing as runners-up to Championship winners Burnley.
MANCHESTER CITY
Yaya Toure’s agent has claimed talks are being held with Inter Milan over a summer move.
Speculation about the Manchester City midfielder’s future has been an ongoing theme and it appears he could reunite with former City boss Roberto Mancini at San Siro.
Toure, who has a year to run on his contract, was allowed to leave Barcelona by incoming City manager Pep Guardiola in 2010 and agent Dimitri Seluk claims the club are keen to sell the Ivory Coast international.
Seluk told calciomercato.it: “It’s true, we’re talking with Mancini.
“We’re looking for a solution with Manchester City, who want to sell Yaya Toure only up front, not on loan.
“I can’t say if there are other teams interested. He has a contract, but nothing special. Inter? It’s a good club.”
BOURNEMOUTH
Eddie Howe is determined to keep Callum Wilson and Matt Ritchie at Bournemouth after rejecting West Ham's £20 million (nearly Dh106m) bid on the eve of their season finale.
Sunday’s bomb scare at Old Trafford forced the hasty rearrangement of the final Premier League match, which Manchester United won 3-1 on Tuesday.
As if the Cherries’ build-up was not tough enough, they also had to deal with a bid from West Ham for striker Wilson and midfielder Ritchie.
Press Association Sport understands the east Londoners’ offer was worth £20m for the pair, and it was one which Howe gave short shrift to.
“We had a bid yesterday evening,” the Bournemouth manager said. “The disappointing thing from my perspective is why the bid has come in a day before a game, our last game of the season? You’ve got the whole summer to bid for players. I don’t understand that.
“I’ve got then two players in the squad who were due to play and a lot of speculation around their futures, so I think that was bizarre from this club’s perspective.
“But the bid was rejected and we have no intention to sell.”
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN
Dutch full-back Gregory van der Wiel will leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season, the French champions announced on Tuesday.
The Netherlands international joined from Ajax in 2012, and he went on to win eight major domestic honours, including four consecutive Ligue 1 titles, in his four campaigns with PSG.
van der Wiel, 28, has had to settle for a place on the bench more often than in previous years due to the good form of Ivorian Serge Aurier. He has played 132 times for the capital city club, scoring five goals.
Van der Wiel could still make one more appearance for Laurent Blanc’s side, with the French Cup final against Marseille to come at the Stade de France on May 21.
According to reports Italian Serie A clubs Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan are interested in signing the defender.
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