MIDDLESBROUGH made a late bid to keep new Ipswich Town midfielder Tommy Miller in the North-East.

The former Hartlepool United star was contacted by the Riverside outfit shortly after completing his dream £800,000 switch to the Premiership on Monday afternoon.

But Miller, who made his debut for the Tractor Boys against Finland side Tampere United yesterday, had already put pen to paper on a four-year contract.

Boro have refuted the claims and insist that Miller was never a player on manager Steve McClaren's wanted list.

Club spokesman Dave Allan said: "It is simply not true. Miller was not and never has been a player on Steve McClaren's list of targets."

But the Northern Echo understands that the player's camp received a call from a Boro representative half an hour after the deal with Ipswich was completed.

The prospect of making the short switch to neighbours Boro would have appealed to the 22-year-old, but once Ipswich had firmed up their interest he was determined to make the move to East Anglia.

And Ipswich boss George Burley revealed that Miller is now firmly focused on impressing at Portman Road.

"Middlesbrough made contact with Tommy via a third party on Monday afternoon," revealed Burley, who also had to fend off competition from Crewe Alexandra and Coventry City.

"Fortunately Tommy had his heart set on Ipswich Town and there was no way he was going to change his mind even for a Premiership club in the North-East."

Boro manager Steve McClaren attempted to hijack the Miller deal after it emerged French midfielder Christian Karembeu was set for a £3.5m move to Greek side Olympiakos.

Now McClaren has turned his attentions to other promising midfielders with Manchester United pair Jonathan Greening and Mark Wilson top of the list.

Former Boro boss Bryan Robson was expected to make a summer move for Miller but the ex-England skipper's departure led to any deal being put on hold.

Meanwhile, former Boro striker Alun Armstrong has welcomed the arrival of Miller in Suffolk.

Armstrong, who joined Ipswich in December, made a few visits to Victoria Park where he witnessed Miller making a name for himself.

And now Armstrong has welcomed Burley's latest addition, he said: "Tommy is a good young attacking midfielder.

"Naturally it's a big jump from the Third to the Premier Division but I'm sure he has what it takes to adjust quickly.

"I've really enjoyed myself since moving south and I'm sure Tommy will do the same. He already knows a bit about the area since he trained with them for a while when he was at school."

* Miller made a dream start at his new club coming on as a second-half substitute and scoring Ipswich's final goal in a 4-2 win at the beginning of their Finnish tour.

The £800,000 midfielder hit the mark for the tractor boys with a 30 yard left footed strike against Tampere United to ensure he made an immediate impact at the East Anglian club.

* Former Boro target Dani is ready to quit Barcelona after being informed there is no first-team future for him at the Nou Camp.

And Boro could revive their interest in the 26-year-old goalscorer after Aston Villa yesterday reportedly made the first move with an £8m bid.

Dani was Boro's number one target in February when they were desperately searching for a strike partner to assist Alen Boksic.

Read more about the Boro here.