EXCLUSIVE: Middlesbrough welcome back star after resolving weird clause
Stewart Downing has come to agreement with Middlesbrough which means he will be available for Tony Pulis to start him in games again.
The 34-year-old former England international midfielder had been a mainstay in Pulis’s starting XI all season, before January when he started his 22nd league game – but he was prevented from starting his 23rd match by the club’s hierarchy.
Downing would have been due an automatic extension, if he played half the club’s league games – so Pulis was told he could not start him – although he has remain involved in every game since, but only as a substitute.
But now the club are understood to have come to agreement with Downing, that will not see him gain an automatic new deal.
Sources close to Pulis and Downing have confirmed to us that both are ‘delighted’ that he will get a chance to once again play a big part in Boro’s promotion push which has stuttered in recent weeks.
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