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Boro have agreed a deal to bring back Gaston Ramirez - but now face a red tape wrangle to complete the switch.

Uruguayan sources insist that Boro and the silky schemer have shaken hands on a Riverside return after his agent unravelled a pre-contract deal he signed with Penerol.

That complication and a fee demanded by the Uruguayan side to release him led Boro to walk away from talks last week.

It is understood Ramirez is now free to leave Penerol and his camp are reported to have approached Boro to revive a deal for a return to Teesside.

But the now-dead deal with the Uruguayan side signed in January has thrown a spanner in the works as it led to him being registered abroad.

And that means he will now need to apply for a fresh work permit to play in the UK.

It is believed Ramirez would be refused a permit because he has not played enough international games for Uruguay in the past two years - and that will force Boro into an uncertain permit appeals procedure.

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Uruguayan sources say his agents fully expect his application to fail and are already preparing to make an appeal.

Ramirez falls short of the strict Department of Employment criteria to work in the United Kingdom.

Uruguay are ranked ninth in the world by FIFA and the rules state that for a top ten nation an applicant should have played 30% of senior international games in the past two years.

But Ramirez was in the wilderness for 18 months as he was a fringe figure at Southampton and then failed to fire in a loan spell at Hull.

After playing in a 2-1 win over Chile in November 2014 he failed to make Oscar Tabarez’ squad for 14 games as his career stuttered.

It was only his impressive second half of the season flourish as he galvanised Boro’s promotion push to the Premier League that forced him back into the frame.

But despite featuring in the squad for the last three competitive games at the Copa America in the USA, he is nowhere near meeting the criteria.

That means should Boro apply for a work permit for Ramirez it will be rejected.

But they would immediately appeal and prepare a case based on his “exceptional ability” and sources close to the player say the national manager will vouch that the player is back in the fold and regarded as an active member of the squad.

And Boro can claim that as a Premier League player for the past three seasons he can significantly contribute to raising standards in the game.