NOTTINGHAM FOREST have tried to sign three Middlesbrough players this summer and the latest of those, Grant Leadbitter, has no desire to leave the Riverside Stadium.

The Northern Echo understands Forest had already failed with attempts to prise both Rhys Williams and Mustapha Carayol away from the North-East before making three offers for Leadbitter in the past week or so.

While £5m-rated England Under-21s goalkeeper Jason Steele is regarded as the biggest asset at Boro this summer, the strong interest from Forest in the other three could provide Tony Mowbray with some tough decisions in the coming weeks.

Billy Davies, the manager at the City Ground, has been given money to spend, has already recruited well and intends to keep going to make his team genuine contenders for an automatic promotion spot.

But Davies has so far been knocked back in his pursuit of his targets from Middlesbrough, with Mowbray reluctant to lose those he would like to form the core of his squad next season.

Williams, who struggled for form after recovering from injury last season, is still regarded as one of the club’s most promising players and has previously interested Bolton. Wigan, now managed by Owen Coyle who tried a number of times to take the Aussie to Burnley, is also keen on taking the 24-year-old to the DW Stadium.

After nothing serious materialised out of tentative interest expressed in former Bristol Rovers winger Carayol from Davies, Forest have now been back in touch with the Teesside club to try to buy Leadbitter.

After an initial offer of around £400,000 was rejected, Forest’s second bid hit £800,000 and sources close to the City Ground now suggest a third broke the £1m mark, but was also rebuffed.

Mowbray has made it clear he has no desire to offload a midfielder who was his most consistent outfield player last season.

Sunderland-born Leadbitter only arrived as a free agent 12 months ago when he opted against signing a new contract at Ipswich Town and has settled back in to life in the North-East, having left his home city in a £2.65m deal in 2009.

He is in no rush to leave again, despite disappointment at not being able to celebrate promotion in May when he had hoped his first season at the Riverside would end after sealing a Premier League return.

Despite the arrivals of Dean Whitehead and Jozsef Varga to bolster Middlesbrough’s midfield options, Leadbitter remains part of Mowbray’s plans and there is no desire to cash in on him this summer.

But Forest, and a number of other clubs, are keeping an eye on the situation at Middlesbrough, where there is a perception players could be sold before the transfer window closes on September 2 to raise money for Mowbray to reinvest in his own squad.

Whitehead and Varga, one permanent and one on a season-long loan, are Middlesbrough’s only summer recruits so far and Mowbray plans to make more additions after the pre-season training camp in Portugal. They are due to return to Teesside on Sunday night and last night.

Middlesbrough's 20-year-old goalkeeper Connor Ripley, meanwhile, is training with Aberdeen in the hope of sealing a loan switch. 

There were first outings for both Whitehead and Varga in Boro's first pre-season friendly over Farense at the Estadio Municipal last night.

In a tight game, Carayol hit the winner in the 65th minute when he cut inside and applied the finish after Andy Halliday's pass.

Boro (first half): Leutwiler, Parnaby, Halliday, Gibson, R Williams, Reach, Ledesma, Whitehead, Park, Smallwood, Jutkiewicz.

Boro (second half): Steele, Smallwood, Burgess, Williams, Halliday, Haroun, Leadbitter, Varga, Carayol, Emnes, McDonald.