Boro Take Time Over Fab Future
BORO will wait until their Premier League future is secured before deciding whether to extend Fabio Rochemback's stay on Teesside - but Gaizka Mendieta will leave in the summer.
Brazilian midfielder Rochemback was signed from Barcelona in 2005 on a three-year deal with an option for Boro to keep him for a further two years.
With his current deal running out, press reports have suggested that Sporting Lisbon would like to re-sign the 27-year-old, who was Portugal's Player of the Year during a successful loan spell with the club before he joined Boro. Clubs in Brazil are also said to be monitoring the situation.
But Southgate said: "Until we know what position we're in, it's difficult for us to do anything or make any decisions.
"It doesn't surprise me there's been speculation linking him with other clubs but the situation is that we have to make a decision in the next couple of weeks on whether to take up the two-year option.
"In the meantime, given our situation, the less we talk of the future with the players, the better."
However, former Valencia, Lazio and Barcelona playmaker Mendieta's five-year spell at the Riverside is drawing to a close.
The 34-year-old former £28.9m man was signed on a free transfer in 2003, initially on a one-year loan deal with a four-year permanent transfer to follow.
Although he was a key member of Boro's 2004 Carling Cup-winning team he has become a peripheral figure more recently and hasn't appeared in a first team squad this season.
"Mendi will leave at the end of the season," said Southgate. "He actually had the opportunity to move on earlier in the season but he wanted to stay here.
"To be fair, his attitude to training and the way he had helped the Reserves has been first class. We wish him all the best."
Another player whose future has been the subject of media speculation is goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, said to be attracting interest from clubs including Bayern Munich, Juventus and Fiorentina as the clock ticks down on his current Boro deal.
"With Mark's contract situation there's bound to be interest in him, he's a good goalkeeper," said Southgate.
The manager is keen to ensure his focus and that of his players remains on the job in hand with three important Premier League games still to come.
He knows there will be plenty of time to tie up contracts and to strengthen his squad once the campaign is over in two weeks' time.
"I don't think our situation is any different from anyone else's. All our younger players are on longer-term contracts, it's only some of our older players whose situations are different.
"We need to keep some of the experience we have. Obviously the young players are important, but it's important to have that blend as well."
As for incoming transfers, Southgate said: "We're always looking at what we feel needs to be done in the summer. Selling clubs don't want to talk just yet and for us there are still lots of issues still to be resolved.
"Yes, you plan and watch players and look at things that need to be improved but we can't go too far until our future and that of the teams we'll be dealing with is known."
