Middlesbrough have had a second offer turned down in excess of €11million for Groningen striker Jorgen Strand Larsen, according to reports in the Netherlands.
Middlesbrough have already brought in strikers Marcus Forss from Brentford and Matthew Hoppe from Real Mallorca on permanent deals, but manager Chris Wilder would like even more additions in forward areas.
With three of last season’s forwards having been on loan and subsequently returning to their parent clubs, Boro are short in numbers in this department and so had been pursuing a deal for Groningen’s Strand Larsen to address the issue.
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Their first bid was rejected, believed to be around £8million, and they have now reportedly upped their offer to in excess of €11million, although this has also been turned down by Groningen, with the Dutch side holding out for €13million.
This is said to have priced Middlesbrough out of a move and they have now ‘dropped out of the negotiations’. If that is the case, they will turn their attention to other targets as they look to get deals over the line before the transfer deadline at the start of next month.
A blow for Boro…
Strand Larsen was a top target for Boro and with the player interested in a move it looked like a deal could be struck up.
But the Teessiders won’t want to be paying over the odds for the player and so are right to turn their attention elsewhere.
Forss and Hoppe provide Wilder with good options up front, but as the manager stated this week, they have left the number nine shirt vacant for a reason and so they are not done with their pursuits just yet. They will be hopeful they can sign one or two more, which in turn will allow them to green light exits for Duncan Watmore and Josh Coburn.
They do have money to spend after the big-money sales of Marcus Tavernier and Djed Spence and given their sizeable bids for Strand Larsen it shows that they are willing to spend big to land their transfer targets.
