Middlesbrough will hold make-or-break talks with Sporting Lisbon early this week over winger Rudolphe Douala.
And the upshot may be that the Teessiders will land the Cameroon international for a bargain £2 million.
Boro appeared ready to end all interest in Douala (right) following Steve McClaren's departure as manager and Gareth Southgate's succession to the Riverside hotseat.
But the Portuguese club insist the deal is still ON, with a meeting scheduled for the next few days.
"This subject is still on stand-by and Middlesbrough have not discarded the player. The papers said otherwise but our information says different," said a Sporting spokesman.
Douala himself, currently on holiday in France, said: "The Premier League is very attractive for me. I think it is the championship best suited to my style of play.
"But it's true that several French clubs are interested in me."
Bordeaux, Paris St Germain and Marseille are Boro's supposed rivals in the race for Douala.
