GARETH Southgate has insisted that new signing Tuncay Sanli was brought in to play alongside Ayegbeni Yakubu, not to replace him.

The Middlesbrough boss yesterday revealed the club have yet to receive any offers for their £12m-rated want-away striker, despite interest from former club Portsmouth and Manchester City.

Yakubu was involved in the club's pre-season tour of Austria and played alongside Turkey international Tuncay and £2m signing Jeremie Aliadiere in the 1-1 draw with Hertha Berlin on Tuesday.

Despite his future with the Teessiders appearing doubtful, Southgate confirmed he sees Yakubu and Tuncay forming an effective partnership in the Premier League next season.

Southgate said: "Yakubu has been working very hard pre-season. I've read the speculation as well as everyone else but I have had no contact with other clubs.

"Whether people are trying to unsettle him, I do not know but he seems very happy to be back with us.

"We are looking at him to be a very important part of our team.

"Yakubu's record is fantastic in the Premier League. We need strength in depth but we can also play all three strikers (Yakubu, Tuncay, Aliadiere) in games together.

"It is good for me to have different options and we are still looking to strengthen the squad.

"There is nothing we can do about the speculation and there is nothing he can do either. We just have to get on with our work."

While the acquisition of Turkey's star player, Tuncay, has caused few ripples in this country, it is big news across Europe, especially in his home country and Germany.

Despite widespread interest in a player available on a Bosman free, the lure of playing in the Premier League was what persuaded the 25-year-old to swap Istanbul for Middlesbrough.

On a day Middlesbrough were announcing a new seven-figure sponsorship deal with satellite navigation company Garmin, Southgate has in effect saved his club £10m in the transfer market - the Boro boss is in no doubt he picked up one of the bargains of the summer.

"It is difficult to say how much he would be worth in this market but what has become apparent this summer, certainly in the Premier League, is that the market is crazy," said Southgate.

"It was inevitable, given not only the increase in TV money but the foreign investors in particular clubs.

"Whilst those clubs are still involved actively in the transfer market, some of the prices will be inflated by that.

"Tuncay was keen to come to England and that was an important factor. You have to show your enthusiasm to bring someone to the club, show them what you are trying to do.

"To be able to secure someone of his ability on a Bosman is a big thing for us. I believe we have an absolute bargain.

"But the cost is not the important thing. It is bringing a player who wants to play for the football club.

"Everything he has done from the first moment we met him shows that he does. From the way that he has trained to the way he has been with the rest of the players, to watching him push the kit through the airport the other day.

"He has integrated into the group very quickly and settled in very well, better than we could possibly have hoped."

The interest in a player who has scored 13 goals in 43 appearances for his country is immense, with Turkish TV crews and journalists at Middlesbrough's training ground yesterday as the player was officially unveiled. And Southgate was shocked by the crowds in attendance to witness his first training session at the club's Austrian base this week, the Boro boss claiming it was akin to the day when Paul Gascoigne signed for Middlesbrough.

"You have to realise we are bringing in a player who is a massive massive star in his own country," said Southgate.

"He has already played a lot for Turkey and is the biggest star there.

"In other parts of Europe, this is seen as a major coup for us.