MIDDLESBROUGH’S pursuit of Ryan Shotton has hit a “stalemate”, with the Birmingham City defender having featured in his side’ Carabao Cup defeat to Bournemouth on Tuesday night.

Boro have agreed a deal for Shotton, and the centre-half is keen to move to the Riverside, but Blues boss Harry Redknapp has consistently stated that he will not allow the 28-year-old to leave St Andrew’s until he has a central-defensive replacement in place.

Redknapp signed Carl Jenkinson and Cohen Bramall from Arsenal earlier this week, but does not regard either as a like-for-like replacement for Shotton.

He has a preferred target in mind, which is understood to be Bristol City’s Aden Flint, but has been so far been unable to strike an acceptable deal, leaving Shotton in limbo.

“We’ve done a deal with Boro, Ryan wants to go, but we’re looking for a replacement,” said Redknapp. “We’ve been trying to get one in, but I can only spend on a replacement what I get for Ryan.

“At the moment, the replacement I wanted is a bit more than I’d be getting for Ryan, so it’s a bit of a stalemate really.”