A TOP-LEVEL Middlesbrough delegation are due to fly to Spain next week for talks with Real Madrid in an attempt to seal a £5m-plus deal for Geremi.

The Cameroon midfielder has been a major success while on loan with Boro this season and manager Steve McClaren is anxious to secure a permanent agreement to forestall any counter bid from Liverpool.

Geremi is in principle happy to join Boro, with whom he has established himself as something of a cult figure.

Ever-present in the Premiership, the 24-year-old is Boro's joint top scorer this season with seven goals.

A haul of three superlative strikes against Liverpool, Newcastle and Leeds in the space of five games, prompted Boro to press their interest and exercise an option to sign a player who came close to joining Chelsea last summer in a £7.7m deal.

The Stamford Bridge club's huge debts scuppered that move and McClaren, who had enquired about Geremi a year earlier after assuming command at the Riverside, stepped in to take him on temporary terms from European champions Real.

Geremi enhanced his reputation in McClaren's eyes when he scored a stunning free-kick against England in a World Cup warm-up game, with the Boro boss looking on from the opposing bench in his former role as assistant coach to Sven-Goran Eriksson.

The versatile Geremi, who can operate in midfield or at right wing-back, went on to appear in all three World Cup games for Cameroon in the Far East before arriving on Teesside.

Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier, whose side were on the receiving end of another exquisitely-executed Geremi set-piece in the 1-1 draw at Anfield last month, has retained a firm interest.

But Boro are clearly in pole position and remain hopeful of concluding a deal.

Meanwhile, McClaren has spoken of the "pleasure'' he has derived from Boro's recent run, which has seen them go six games unbeaten and claim victories over Sunderland, Newcastle and Leeds.

Boro haven't given up hope of sneaking into a UEFA Cup spot, and McClaren said: "It's a pleasure to be with the team in training every day and a pleasure to watch them in games.

"We can get better and we need to get better. We want to improve and become a force in the Premiership. We set targets for ourselves; you always have your eye on the bigger picture."

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