MIDDLESBROUGH face a race against time in their quest to sign Sporting Lisbon's flying winger Rudolph Douala in the January transfer window.

All indications are that Douala will be named in Cameroon's African Nations Cup 23-man squad in the new year and could miss around a month of Premiership action, should Boro land their man.

The 27-year-old has already been named in a provisional 30-man party and that will be reduced at some stage over the next couple of weeks - a factor being closely monitored by the hierarchy at the Riverside Stadium.

Ideally Boro would prefer him to take Aiyegbeni Yakubu's stance and opt to play for his club rather than his country in the Egypt finals, which could mean being away for more than a month.

But manager Steve McClaren is such an avid admirer of the versatile forward that he is willing to do business regardless of his international commitments.

Douala has been on McClaren's wanted list since he starred for Sporting against the Teessiders in the UEFA Cup last season.

He was initially earmarked as Bolo Zenden's replacement when the Dutchman left to join Liverpool in a free transfer.

But he snubbed a move after the two clubs had agreed a fee of around £5.5m.

The speedy left-winger, who can also play on the right or up front, was keen to stay in Portugal in August after an appearance for Sporting in the Champions League qualifiers made him ineligible to play for another club in Europe.

However, after Sporting's exit to Udinese in that competition and their subsequent elimination at the first hurdle of the UEFA Cup to Swedish side Halmstads, he is now understood to be ready to listen to another offer from the Premiership outfit.

And he made no secret of his feelings when he heard of Boro's bid in the summer, when he said: "I would very much like to thank the coach of Middlesbrough for showing an interest in me. It is a signal of my good work but I don't, at this moment, want to play for Middlesbrough."

Sporting, in need of cash after their failings in Europe, are still hopeful of receiving somewhere near to the £5.5m they agreed to sell him for in August.

But Boro hope, following the strong relationship formed when they took Fabio Rochemback down the same route, the Portuguese outfit will reduce their asking price by at least £1.5m.

Rochemback has recently urged Douala to follow him to the North-East of England and Boro hope acquiring his former team-mate will also bring the best out of the Brazilian, who has struggled so far in the Premiership.

Douala has scored just once in 14 appearances for Sporting this season, as Jose Peseiro's side have slipped to fourth in the Portuguese league, seven points behind leaders Porto.

Boro chairman Steve Gibson has always maintained there will be money available for new faces when the January transfer window opens. It is just a question of how much.

With George Boateng ruled out for at least five weeks, McClaren is also keen on adding a new combative midfielder to his ranks.

He recently failed in an attempt to sign Schalke's Christian Poulsen and is known to be still a fan of Tottenham midfielder Sean Davis' talents.

Poulsen, in particular, was thought to have been a strong candidate to be an arrival in January.

But the Dane has indicated to the Boro boss he wants to stay in Germany with his current employers.

McClaren knows new signings offer the best chance his side have of turning things around, having dropped alarmingly to within six points of the relegation zone.

Failure to beat Manchester City at the Riverside tomorrow afternoon could see Boro heading into the new year level on points with fourth from bottom in the Premiership.

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