Chris Wilder on Marcus Tavernier's future amid Premier League offers for the Middlesbrough man

Chris Wilder is still hopeful he will keep Marcus Tavernier at Middlesbrough this summer, amid offers from Premier League clubs. Boro are understood to have turned down bids from Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth for the midfielder.

Wilder has made no secret of his desire to get Boro back to the Premier League, while Tavernier naturally harbours those ambitions to play in the top flight too. While the chance to move to a top-flight club would likely prove an attractive prospect to the 22-year-old, he is also not expected to cause a fuss to get the move either.

Boro are keen to keep the midfielder this summer, with Wilder seeing him as one of his most important players. However, he also understands that, should either of the two newly-promoted sides up their initial offers, believed to be around £10 million, then Boro would have to strongly consider it.

Chris Wilder and Middlesbrough have already made their stance on Marcus Tavernier clear

Until such a time that happens though, Tavernier remains a Boro player and is contracted for another two years - in which time Wilder hopes to take Boro to the top division. And the Boro boss says you only have to take his performance against Morecambe, where he scored Boro's opening goal in a 3-0 win, to know where his head is at in terms of his commitment.

Wilder said: “I don’t want to lose arguably one of our top players but I understand other bits about the game and the attraction of the Premier League. As you have seen tonight, Tav has took it in his stride. I thought his performance and his goal was excellent, he’s a major player for us.

"I don’t know what is around the corner but he’s a good player, but obviously, I want him to be a good player in a red shirt. He understands