Selling Tuncay and Huth is fine, but Middlesbrough must now hold on to homegrown talent to survive

By Brian McNally

Published 13:38 28/08/09

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It was inevitable that debt-ridden Middlesbrough would have to unload big-earning stars as they try to meet the financial realities of the Championship.

Riverside fans will be sad to see the departure of talented Turk Tuncay Sanli, but from the moment Boro's demotion from the Premier League was confirmed there was no way a player of his ability and ambition was going to remain on Teesside.

The £11million Boro will bank from Tuncay, who cost nothing, and injury-prone centre back Robert Huth was absolutely necessary to tackle a debt mountain that at one stage had reached £93million and a crippling wage bill that was simply unsustainable.

The reality of Boro's finacial situation was spelled when they had to get another highly-paid star Mido off the books on a loan deal before being able to sign free transfer striker Leroy Lita.

That is the sort of market Boro are now in as they attempt to bounce straight back to the top flight. The big challenge now for Steve Gibson and Gareth Southgate is not so much who comes in but which of their homegrown stars go through the exit door.

Most Boro fans will live with the departures of Tuncay, Huth and Mido but the sale of highly-rated youngsters such as David Wheater and Adam Johnson will send out completely the wrong signals.

The Riverside faithful will lose faith if Stewart Downing's departure is allowed to become an exodus of young talent.

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