EVERTON are hoping to make a summer move for inspirational Middlesbrough captain Paul Ince.

The Toffees are understood to be in direct competition with Manchester City to sign the battling midfielder.

Ince, 35 in October, has been in contract negotiations since the turn of the year with Boro boss Steve McClaren.

But the club's skipper is thought to be holding out for a two-year deal - 12-months longer than the contract Boro are prepared to offer.

Ince, who has commuted from Merseyside since leaving Liverpool in a £1m move in 1999, is likely to agree to join a side whose ground is just a few miles from his family home.

But Goodison Park boss David Moyes will face stiff competition from ambitious Division One champions City.

Earlier this season Maine Road chief Kevin Keegan played down reports that he was targeting Ince.

Instead, the former Newcastle United boss indicated that he was only interested in signing Bayern Munich's Steffen Effenberg.

However, the German international turned down a lucrative move to Manchester and it is thought Keegan has been monitoring Ince's Boro situation since.

The Riverside outfit's middle-man has enjoyed a good season and has been a major factor in the club's rise out of the bottom three and into a respectable mid-table position.

Meanwhile, striker Joseph-Desire Job has completed his loan spell at French side Metz.

The Cameroon international, who has become surplus to requirements at the Riverside under manager Steve McClaren, was due back on Teesside yesterday.

And Boro assistant boss Bill Beswick believes there will be a lot of sides taking a look at the tricky front-man.

"We are expecting interest in him from a number of clubs," said Beswick.

Job was signed by former boss Bryan Robson in the summer of 2000 from Le Championnat's RC Lens.

McClaren is hoping to have a couple of injured players available to travel to Leeds for the final match of the season on Saturday.

England centre-back Gareth Southgate, who is hoping to be named in Thursday's World Cup squad, has recovered from a broken nose which kept him out of the Chelsea defeat, and Italian defender Gianluca Festa has shrugged off a groin strain.

Top-scorer Alen Boksic is still a major doubt with his troublesome Achilles injury.

The Croatian, strongly linked with a summer move to Japanese side Grampus Eight, has not played since the FA Cup semi-final defeat to Arsenal on April 14.

l Former Boro star Juninho has been named in Brazil's World Cup squad.

And the Flamengo star, who missed the competition four years ago in France with a broken leg, is convinced that his country are a force to be reckoned with in Japan and South Korea.

"To make it to the World Cup is my peak and I have reached this goal," said Juninho. "Now I'm going after my other goals.

"Brazil have everything to win the title and the squad is a good one. The manager is competent and we always enter competitions with a reputation."

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