DAVID Wheater is desperately hoping he is not one of the Middlesbrough players who is asked to move on this summer as Gareth Southgate oversees some “big changes” in the wake of his side’s relegation from the Premier League.

Southgate will meet Boro chairman Steve Gibson this week to launch an inquest into a season that started with so much promise, but ended on Sunday with the Teessiders tumbling out of the top-flight.

The Middlesbrough manager spoke with a number of players yesterday in order to gauge their willingness to commit to the cause ahead of a season in the Championship, and will present Gibson with a list of names he is hoping to move on this summer.

Southgate has already accepted he will struggle to keep established internationals such as Tuncay Sanli, Robert Huth and Emanuel Pogatetz, while the likes of Mohamed Shawky, Julio Arca and Jeremie Aliadiere are likely to be deemed surplus to requirements.

Stewart Downing’s future is up in the air following a foot injury that is likely to sideline the winger for at least three months. Southgate had expected Downing, pictured right with Wheater, to leave the Riverside this summer, but as he will not be fit for the start of pre-season training in August, the 24-year-old could now remain on Teesside at least until January.

If Downing remains, Boro may need to sell another of their bigger names in order to reduce an annual wage bill that currently tops the £30m mark.

Wheater could be that bigger name, with Birmingham boss Alex McLeish having already declared an interest in the defender last week, only to baulk at Boro’s anticipated £9m price tag.

Wheater is aware of the speculation linking him with St Andrew’s, but having missed just six of Middlesbrough’s 38 Premier League matches this season, the Redcarborn centre-half admits it would be a wrench to leave his only professional employers in their hour of need.

“It would be horrible to move from the club,”

said Wheater. “It would be horrible to move away from my family and friends because I’ve never done it before.

“I haven’t thought about moving at all because Middlesbrough is the place I want to be. I want to play in the Premier League and I want to do that with Middlesbrough, and I think we can bounce straight back. We have enough quality to get straight back up.”

Having played at Upton Park on Sunday, Wheater will undergo surgery on Thursday to repair torn knee cartilage.

The 22-year-old has been struggling with the injury for most of the second half of the season, and will miss the European Under-21 Championships as a result of the operation.

This time last summer, Wheater was jetting to the Caribbean with the England senior squad ahead of a friendly with Trinidad & Tobago.

A season in the Championship would temporarily put his international ambitions on hold, but the defender claims that is no reason to seek a move away from Teesside this summer.

“It doesn’t really affect my decision at my age,” said Wheater.

“Possibly if I was 28 or 29 and still not playing for England then maybe I w o u l d think differently, but I have plenty of years ahead of me to get in the England squad.

“I have two more years left here and I’m happy at Middlesbrough.

It’s now up to the manager. I wouldn’t ask for a transfer, but if the manager accepts the bid then that becomes a different matter.

“It’s obviously flattering when £9m is mentioned (as a possible transfer fee) because I would have never have thought I’d be worth that in a million years.

“It’s obviously nice people think that highly of me, but I won’t be going into the manager’s office demanding a transfer.

“I’ve supported Middlesbrough all my life, and it’s the team I want to be playing for at the moment. What I want to do now is help them get back up next season.”

Whether Downing feels the same remains to be seen. The winger was promised his future would be reassessed this summer when his transfer request was rejected in January, but last week’s ankle operation looks like scuppering his hopes of a move to either Tottenham or Liverpool.

“Stewy probably will be staying because I think he’s out for up to six months,” said Wheater. “I think Stewart Downing is too good for the Championship – Tuncay as well – but it’s up to them. I don’t really know what they’ll do because it’s up to them.”

■ Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson will be a guest on BBC Tees Sport between 6-8pm this evening.