Middlesbrough will look to hold on to defender Ben Gibson this summer, according to TeamTalk, but they will face a fight to keep the 24 year old with Chelsea and five other Premier League clubs keeping tabs on the player.
Boro reportedly rate the centre back at £25million, and with the number of potential suitors, they could in fact match or even surpass their asking price if a bidding war occurs. New manager Garry Monk is however keen to keep his homegrown players and has told the club’s hierarchy that he would like to keep Gibson.
Tottenham, Everton, Leicester City, Southampton and Stoke are the other clubs who, along with the Blues, have taken a keen interest in Gibson, but it seems that there is currently no bid on the table from any club.
Chelsea are likely looking at a number of centre back options this summer, although Gibson is most probably quite far down the list. The club’s top target was Juventus’s Leonardo Bonucci but after being rebuffed by Juve, the Evening Standard are reporting that manager Anotnio Conte has turned his sights towards Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk.
