Gareth Southgate insisted that Mido will stay with Middlesbrough this season, stressing that no genuine offers were sent for the Egyptian. The 25-year-old is believed to be in search for first-team football at Riverside, and a move to Wigan Athletic has been on the cards during the past couple of weeks. Mido, who had a bright start to the season, scoring three goals in his first three matches, has been playing second fiddle to Brazil forward Afonso Alves in late. However, Southgate played down the Wigan link, claiming that it was no more than a phone call from Latics boss Steve Bruce. "Mido's definitely on board. I had a very good chat with him on Friday. He's a very emotional lad and he wants to play," said the Boro boss. "He obviously feels that having scored three goals in three games, he deserves the right to start. "He's made his case and his attitude has been excellent. He tries very hard to disguise his feelings but we love him to bits. "There weren't any real inquiries for him anyway. There was a call from Steve Bruce at Wigan but it was all a bit tentative and dependent on other things happening. "I made it very clear to Mido I wanted him here and, as a club, we weren't prepared to let him go. "Mido's performances have been excellent, so it wouldn't make any logic for us as a club to lose a player of that ability." Shirt Incident Southgate played down Mido's tossing to his shirt into the Boro crows at the end of last weekend's 2-1 win over Stoke City. Speculation fueled after Mido's act, claiming that it was a sign of a goodbye from the former Tottenham Hotspur striker. But Southgate believes that: "The shirt's a good souvenir for someone."
