MIDDLESBROUGH midfielder Paul Ince was last night at the centre of a captaincy poser after claiming he had lost the skipper's armband to £6.5m signing Gareth Southgate.

Former England international Ince insisted: "Gareth is the captain. I'm happy and I accept it.''

New Boro manager Steve McClaren refused to be drawn on who would be his team leader next season.

But the club later issued a statement assuring Ince he was still the captain.

A spokesman said: "Paul has got it wrong. There's been some confusion, but he is the captain.''

However, on the day he welcomed the arrival of 30-year-old Southgate from Aston Villa, McClaren made it clear that he sees the centre-back as a model professional.

In contrast to the fiery Ince, three years Southgate's senior, the new man is a cool and quietly assured character, and McClaren admitted he had always been his No 1 transfer target, as revealed in Northern Echo Sport this week.

"You need role models and people with leadership qualities and Gareth is that type,'' said McClaren. "He lives the right way and trains the right way and creates the right image.

"The main criterion for leadership is that a player makes those around him play better. I can see that in Paul Ince and I can see that in Gareth as well. They do it in different ways, but it all boils down to communication. You can't have too many of those people in your team.

"Gareth impresses me with his work on and off the field. When I was in Italy with England last year there was talk of a split in the camp, which was total nonsense.

"I noticed that every meal time, Gareth ate at a different table, mixed with the lads very well and always talked one-to-one with players.

"I brought Steve Harrison here from Villa and I talked to him about Gareth.

"But my decision to go for Gareth was made long before I came here; Steve just confirmed everything I thought about him.''

Southgate, who has agreed a four-year deal with Boro, admits that joining a club not involved in Europe could hinder his England prospects.

But he insisted: "I'm prepared to take that chance - I'm confident we'll get into Europe one day.

"There's a lot of competition in the England squad from Sol Campbell and Rio Ferdinand, who has very much come into the starting line-up.

"But I've played 42 times for my country, so it's up to me to try to force my way back in.''

However, England coach McClaren stressed: "I don't think Gareth has taken a gamble coming here. The England team is chosen on merit and I believe he just has to play to the best of his ablility. The main thing is that he does that for Middlesbrough.

"I know he was in dispute with Villa last year and it shows the kind of character he is that he can come through that, perform the way he did, and have no animosity towards them.''

Southgate, who asked for a transfer last summer and stood down as Villa captain on the eve of last season's final game at Newcastle, was also pursued by Tottenham and Liverpool.

Chelsea was another possible destination last season. "The opportunity was there,'' said Southgate. "Chelsea offered £7m, but at the time that wasn't enough for Villa.

"Ironically, Gianluca Vialli had been sacked within three weeks, so I think this move to Middlesbrough was meant to be.

"It's nice to come to a place where everything is so positive after all the negativity at Villa. I didn't necessarily agree with certain things that were going on there.

"But I was proud to be their captain for three years. The last thing I wanted was to leave Villa firing bullets at them.

"They're a club with great tradition and I'm sure they'll be very successful in the future.

"I spoke to Andy Townsend and Paul Merson about Middlesbrough. I know Paul left under a bit of a cloud, but they both talked about the club in glowing terms. Nobody has a bad word for the place and it's fantastic to be here at the start of a new era.''

Meanwhile, former Manchester United No 2 McClaren is on alert after his old club placed England Under-21 duo Mark Wilson and Jonathan Greening on the transfer list.

Old Trafford boss Sir Alex Ferguson is willing to let them go in a £4m double deal, and West Ham are rivals to Boro.

"Both players are determined to leave,'' said Ferguson. "They want first-team football and we have to accept that.

"But they're young and talented and we're not giving them away for nothing. At the same time, we're not asking for the Moon.'

Read more about the Boro here.