Middlesbrough have rejected an offer of around £3million for record signing Afonso Alves.

Manager Gareth Southgate has confirmed the Teessiders have been contacted by an unnamed club, understood to be from the United Arab Emirates, about the 28-year-old Brazilian.

Southgate told the Northern Echo: "We have had a bid for Afonso, but it wasn't something we deemed to be acceptable.

"To be honest, it wasn't anywhere near what we would accept."

Alves has rarely lived up to his billing since arriving at the Riverside Stadium in a £12.7million switch from Heerenveen in January 2008.

However, it is debatable whether or not potential buyers will be prepared to meet Boro's asking price as they attempt to cope with the financial impact of relegation.

One man who seems certain to leave the club is Turkey international Tuncay Sanli.

He is a man both Southgate and the fans would dearly love to see stay on Teesside, but the former England defender knows he is unlikely to be able to hang on to him despite the fact that no offers have yet been received.

He said: "We haven't had a bid for Tuncay, but we are waiting to see what happens.

"We are assuming that he will move on, but nothing is guaranteed. He's back into training and he's done all the running.

"He has to get himself ready for pre-season now, whether it's here or somewhere else."

Meanwhile, Southgate confirmed that stay-away striker Mido will continue to be fined as long as he fails to report for training.

The Egypt international did not arrive back at Rockliffe Park with the rest of his team-mates a fortnight ago, and has been fined two weeks wages, and he will continue to be hit in the pocket until he shows up.

Southgate said: "It's very simple - Mido has to get himself back and into training with us.
"This club will not be paying anybody who is not in training with us.

"We will deal with what happens after that as and when he's ready to join in with that training, but nothing will knock us off what we want to achieve.

"The players that want to be here have to have the focus they have showed so far and put the other distractions to one side."