Yakubu move to Everton in doubt

omgukilledkenny SG

Everton's move for Ayegbeni Yakubu is in danger of collapsing after Middlesbrough hiked up their asking price for the striker to £12.5million.

David Moyes was confident of capturing the Nigerian after launching an £11m bid for the 24-year-old last week.

Middlesbrough have resigned themselves to losing Yakubu, with the player having been withdrawn from the squad that travelled to play Fulham at the weekend.

But the chances of him switching to Goodison decreased yesterday with Middlesbrough elevating the price tag to a value Everton are presently unwilling to meet.

Everton, who nevertheless remain hopeful of still thrashing out a deal, were clear favourites to sign the forward, but the likes of Manchester City and Portsmouth are now thought to be monitoring developments.

The Teessiders are seeking the highest possible price to help finance Gareth Southgates squad rebuilding in attack.

Boro last week began preparing for life without Yakubu by signing Mido from Tottenham Hotspur, and were yesterday linked with a £6m move for Heerenveens Brazilian forward Afonso Alves, who finished top scorer in Holland last season.

omgukilledkenny SG

Yakubu absent from Boro training

Speculation over Aiyegbeni Yakubu's future at Middlesbrough mounted on Tuesday when it emerged he was not training on Teesside.

It is understood the Nigeria international did not train with his team-mates either on Monday or Tuesday, further fuelling talk that his days with the club he joined from Portsmouth for £7.5million in July 2005 could be drawing to a close.

Everton's current valuation of the player is understood to be around £1million short of the figure at which Boro might be prepared to do business, while former club Pompey and Manchester City have been monitoring the player's situation for some time.