Robert Huth's move to Middlesbrough will be back ON - if his ankle problem clears up.
Worried Boro officials pulled the plug on a £5 million deal for the Chelsea defender in midweek amid concerns over the injury, picked up during the World Cup.
But the Sunday Sun understands the Huth transfer is NOT dead, with Boro telling the German star they will sign him if he can prove his fitness in the next few weeks.
Huth's agent, Manfred Schulte, last night said: "Robert still wants to go to Middlesbrough.
"He was devastated when the deal was put on hold but he now hopes the problem will clear up and he can become a Middlesbrough player in the near future.
"At the present moment, the transfer cannot happen. But in the future it can.
"How long? It will be before the start of the new season. I think the transfer may happen. We both hope it does. Robert would love to move to Middlesbrough."
Huth is now back at Chelsea, whose medical staff will assess the seriousness of his injury.
In the meantime, Boro have sounded out Sylvain Distin's representatives about a move to the Riverside Stadium.
Distin is embroiled in a contract row with City and would jump at the chance to join the big-spending Teessiders in a deal that would be worth as much as £40,000-a-week.
