Gareth Southgate has rubbished claims Middlesbrough have struck a £14million deal with Heerenveen for striker Afonso Alves.

A 'source close to the player' was quoted in The Sun as saying the clubs had agreed a price - and discussions over the Brazilian's personal terms had also reached a satisfactory conclusion.

But Southgate says he has not tabled any bids, let alone one for Alves.

He said: "We've not had any bids for any of our players and we've not made any bids for any players.

"We've made enquiries and had one or two enquiries about some of players going out on loan and that's it."

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