Middlesbrough’s hopes of sealing a deal for Sporting Lisbon striker Andraz Sporar have hit a snag as the Slovenia international doesn’t want to give up his £20,000-a-week wages, as reported by A Bola.
Uche Ikpeazu and Matt Crooks may have already opened their accounts under Neil Warnock but are the former Wycombe Wanderers and Rotherham men enough for a Boro side that began the season with promotion ambitions?
Perhaps not.
As it stands, it’s hard to imagine anyone at the Riverside breaking the 20-goal barrier this season.
And while Warnock is living proof you don’t need a bountiful centre-forward to secure a place in the Premier League – Callum Paterson was his ten-goal top scorer when Cardiff finished second in the Championship in 2018 – a reliable number nine would certainly come in handy, especially when you consider Middlesbrough have started the season with just one win in four matches.
Middlesbrough trying to tempt Andraz Sporar to the Riverside
The north east outfit look set to miss out on Andre Gray, with the Watford man on his way to Queens Park Rangers.
And a deal for Sporar appears to have hit the buffers too.
According to reports coming out of Portugal, the 27-year-old earns £20,000 a week at the Primeira Liga champions.
And it appears Sporar is unwilling to accept a pay cut, with Middlesbrough hoping they can come to some sort of a compromise before next week’s transfer deadline.
However, it seems likely Sporting would have to contribute a sizeable fraction of Sporar’s wages to let the former Basel and Braga man leave on loan.
Sporar was heavily linked with Celtic before joining Sporting Lisbon for £5.5 million as recently as January 2020.
A prolific goalscorer at previous outfit Slovan Bratislava, he has found the going tough in the Portuguese capital, hitting the net just 11 times in 38 games.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
