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Adama Traore is reported to be an £18m target for French giants Paris Saint Germain.

The cash-rich Qatar-owned club have earmarked Boro’s fast-forward flanker as a key element in a summer shake-up designed to bring them within UEFA’s stringent Financial Fair Play rules.

That is the claim made in the respected Saudi-based Arab News.

The paper, an English language paper with extensive contacts in the business and political elite in the Arab world, say PSG are ready to trigger a release clause in Traore’s Riverside contract.

And they further suggest Traore could initially be signed to a Qatari club before being ‘loaned’ to Champions League outfit PSG in a convoluted move that could tip-toe through the FFP red tape.

PSG are under pressure to slash their costs to comply with FFP or face a possible transfer embargo.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

Arab News say Paris club chiefs see former Barca man Traore as a relatively low-cost replacement for players such as Angel Di Maria and Julian Draxler who they need to get off the wage bill.

The paper claim Traore’s contract includes an £18m release clause that kicked in when Boro failed to win promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

And they suggest Boro’s Spanish Under-21 flyer may be registered with a Qatar Stars League club first before moving Traore to PSG on loan or at a discounted fee.

That would echo the way Manchester City signed Frank Lampard in August 2014 on a “loan” from Major League Soccer sister club New York City.

Abu Dhabi-owned City were facing UEFA restrictions on their spending and Champions League squad size after breaking the FFP ceiling and that mechanism allowed them to bring him in on a ‘free’.

Like City, PSG have had their Arab owners support for unprecedented spending on star names like £200m Neymar and £166m Kylian Mbappe, respectively the highest ever fee for a footballer and a teenager.

Qatar is ready to continuing backing the PSG project at that rate and have been linked with a move for Cristiano Ronaldo but know the club must also be FFP-compliant.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

As a result, they are set to sell fringe figures and could possibly sacrifice Mbappe while looking to bring in players like Traore.

The story was tweeted out today by Duncan Castles who works for the Sunday Times and Arab News.

The tale was also been picked up with interest in the West Midlands where cash-strapped Aston Villa would welcome a Traore move.

Birmingham Live have speculated that Villa have a sell on clause on Traore from the 2016 summer switch, reported as being worth up to £7m at the time.

Tweeting at the time Villa owner Dr Tony Xia said: “We’ll also get benefits from Adama becoming great in the future as deal settled.”