MIDDLESBROUGH winger Stewart Downing has today handed in a written transfer request.
Hours after Boro chairman Steve Gibson insisted the 24-year-old would not be sold in the wake of a formal approach from Tottenham, the England international took matters into his own hands by asking to leave.
Downing signed a new five-year contract at the Riverside Stadium in February last year, but has grown increasingly restless at his home town club since.
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