Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate remains confident that he will be able to call on Yakubu Aiyegbeni's services next season.
The Nigerian is understood to be unsettled on Teesside, but as yet no club have made a suitable approach to Boro.
The likes of Aston Villa, Manchester City, Portsmouth and West Ham are all thought to be keeping tabs on the situation - but Yakubu has started pre-season with Boro and Southgate wants it to stay that way.
"Yakubu is still part of my plans, absolutely," said Southgate.
"He has been with us in Austria and worked very hard with everybody else.
"I read the speculation the same as everybody else but we have had no contact from any other club.
"Whether people are trying to unsettle the player I don't know, but he seems very happy to be back with us having reported back from Nigeria and we are looking to him as being a big part of our team."
Meanwhile, former Hartlepool boss Martin Scott has been appointed Boro's new Under-18 coach.
"I’m really excited about the chance to work with Boro’s excellent young players," said Scott.
"The quality of players here is excellent and hopefully I can use my experience to help them."
Source : www.skysports.com
By Graeme Bailey - Created on 21 Jul 2007
