MIDDLESBROUGH will slap a �9million price tag on David Wheater if they are forced into a firesale. (The Sun)Boro are resigned to offloading stars if their relegation is sealed on Sunday - with Tuncay, Robert Huth and Gary O'Neil all set to go.

MIDDLESBROUGH will slap a �9million price tag on David Wheater if they are forced into a firesale. (The Sun)

Boro are resigned to offloading stars if their relegation is sealed on Sunday - with Tuncay, Robert Huth and Gary O'Neil all set to go.

The cash-strapped Teessiders are desperate to hang on to centre-half Wheater, who is on the verge of an England call.

But with Stewart Downing's broken foot set to stall the England winger's �12m exit, Boro need to cash in on their most saleable assets as they fight debts of �90m.

Newly-promoted Birmingham have been monitoring 22-year-old Wheater - who is booked in for surgery on a knee problem.

Boss Alex McLeish revealed: “It's difficult to buy top-end centre-halves. If Middlesbrough go down, then Wheater is someone we have watched.”