Brazilian keeps Boro in limbo.

AFONSO Alves' Boro nightmare could still come to an end - despite him failing to put pen to paper on a move to Qatar side Al Sadd yesterday.

The Qatar transfer deadline differs from that in Europe. In fact Alves has until September 15 to agree personal terms with Al Sadd and then complete the move.

Alves flew out to Doha on Sunday and will remain there for another two or three days while negotiations continue. He will also complete a series of medicals.

Alves will then probably return to Teesside, though Boro still expect the deal to go through, with the Brazilian moving on for an undisclosed fee.

However everything is dependent on Alves agreeing personal terms.

He is the highest paid player remaining on Boro's books and has a contract worth in the region of pounds 2.5m a year.

Alves still has three years remaining on his Boro deal and no doubt will be looking for similar financial security if he is to move to the Middle East.

Boro are clearly prepared to take a huge loss on the Brazilian, who cost a whopping pounds 12.7m when signed from Dutch side Heerenveen in January, 2008.

During his 20 months with Boro he has scored just 10 league goals, and is generally regarded as a flop within the English game.

While Boro have had their fingers burned over the Alves deal, there will be some relief -especially for the club's bankers - if Boro can move him on and save themselves from having to fork out the payments from the last three years of his contract.

The fact that Alves is still officially a Boro player creates some uncertainty for Gareth Southgate, even though he was given the green light to sign a new striker yesterday.

If Alves eventually turns down Al Sadd, then Southgate will have no choice but to bring him back into the first team fold.

In fact the Brazilian might even score goals at Championship level, which would not only restore his confidence but give Boro a better chance of winning promotion.

However Southgate was looking elsewhere for goalscorers yesterday and the manager would be bitterly disappointed not to have signed any of the targets on his long list.

Southgate made dozens of phonecalls and tried several avenues, notably making a pounds 3m offer to Derby County for their experienced 29-year-old centre forward Rob Hulse.

Derby had been made well aware of Boro's potential interest in Hulse during the course of the summer, though it was not until yesterday morning that Boro were able to put a bid into writing.

They did not leave themselves much time to complete a deal, but it was still a relatively surprising outcome when Hulse insisted he was not interested in moving to Boro.

Normally Boro offer the kind of cash which players can't refuse - they have to, to tempt them to come to the North-east.

But it didn't work out, and Southgate was left completely frustrated as several attempts to sign other forwards he had been monitoring ended in similar failure.

One of the names mentioned in the media was Jermaine Beckford at Leeds United, though this has not been confirmed by Boro.

If Boro had signed Hulse, or any other similar striker, then it is believed that Boro were prepared to accept an offer from Fulham for Jeremie Aliadiere.

When Hulse said "no", Boro pulled the plug on the Aliadiere transfer.

Now Southgate must bury his frustrations and continue to try to strengthen his squad using other avenues.

He can take advantage of the loan system, provided he can find suitable players, while there is also the option to sign out of contract players.

Obviously it brings Danny Webber back into the picture. The former Sheffield United striker was released by the Blades at the end of June and is still waiting to find a new club, having already turned down offers from Crystal Palace and Swansea.

Southgate could sign him at any time, if given the green light by Steve Gibson and offering a contract which Webber finds acceptable.

However it's likely that the manager will have to wait until the Alves saga reaches a conclusion.

In fact, unless Alves gives his answer to Al Sadd, Southgate is likely to be left to carry on with the squad he has got.

CAPTION(S):

BORO BOUND? Emanuel Pogatetz and Julio Arca close down Danny Webber in a Premier League game against Sheffield United in 2007. Webber is now back in the picture as a potential signing after Rob Hulse turned a move to the North-east down pounds 12.7 MILLION MAN: Afonso Alves celebrates one of the 10 goals he scored for Boro - not a great return on a player who scored 45 goals in 39 appearances for the Dutch side Heerenveen