After re -upping his contract in February and having Tottenham knocking on his door, Stuart Downing has handed in his Transfer Request this morning according to news reports coming out of England.

Via DailyMail 

The request, engineered to spark a fresh bid from Tottenham Hotspur, will be rejected by Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate and his chairman Steve Gibson.

But Downing’s father Stewart senior says his son is desperate to quit the Riverside because of the lack of investment in the first team squad.

He claims that when the midfielder signed a contract extension last year, he was promised there would be significant investment in the squad.

Downing said: ‘Stewart’s been frustrated since the summer, really. When he signed his new contract he was assured that there would be significant investment in the squad.

He feels that the club haven’t matched those expectations. He’s also frustrated that the team is once again struggling in the Premier League.

‘Obviously as a Middlesbrough lad he’s thought long and hard about the decision to hand in a transfer request and he also hopes the fans will understand his reasons for doing so.’