THE name of Leroy Lita is being mentioned in many places in the papers.

The Sunday People claim an exclusive when saying Gareth Southgate is to sign the striker on a free transfer. They say Lita, 24, quit Reading at the end of his last deal and is also wanted by Boro's Friday opponents Sheffield United. The People add that Southgate has been looking at David Nugent and Rob Hulse.

The Journal say Boro have joined the chase to sign Lita, though they say he was released by Reading at the end of last season. They say that Lita, who has scored 61 goals in 186 games, held talks with Sheffield United last week.

The Congo-born former Bristol City trainee is the subject of inches in the Daily Mail, they add that Besiktas are interested in Gary O'Neil but claim he is "homesick for Portsmouth and is unlikely to want to move to Turkey."

The Northern Echo say that Mido is expected to return home to Egypt on loan, but add that Boro have yet to agree the terms of his departure. They say Southgate is "disappointed the signing of maverick striker Mido did not work out," adding, "but he has no regrets about bringing him to Teesside.

It's the time of year for pundits to run the rule over all the teams in the Championship. Boro's write-up in the Sunday Telegraph goes: "The club are cutting their cloth accordingly. The £500,000 spent on Mark Yeates from Colchester will probably give a better return than the £7m spent on Didier Digard and Marvin Emnes a year ago." The paper nominates Adam Johnson as the player to watch and predict Boro to be promotion contenders after a rocky start.

The Sunday Mirror have charismatic Blackpool boss Ian Holloway running the rule over the rest of the Championship clubs.

Of Boro he says: "How will they respond? The boss will be able to carry the expectations that will surround them, but will his men? They have got the talent and they will be big fishes in this pond."