WITH a move for Jordan Rhodes having stalled, Aitor Karanka admits he is interested in bringing Crystal Palace striker Dwight Gayle to the Riverside.

Blackburn Rovers manager Gary Bowyer revealed this week that Boro have had a £12m bid rejected for Rhodes.

Although Middlesbrough start the season on Sunday at Preston North End, Karanka suggested that Boro are in no rush to complete a deal for a new striker and revealed that he is also targeting Gayle.

“He's a striker, he scores goals, another on the list, a good player,” said the Spaniard. “On our list they are the best, but we have other alternatives, we have other positions so we are working really well, the club is working really well.

“I want to again express my gratitude to the chairman because he has been supporting me every single day so we have to start the season focused on the Preston game with the players who we have.

“The players who will arrive, I'm not thinking about them.”

Rhodes remains on the radar, however, with Karanka refusing to give up on bringing in a Scottish international who has scored 73 goals in 127 league appearances for Blackburn.

Asked about Blackburn rejecting Boro’s bid, Karanka said: “I don't know because I am not the person who deals with other clubs.

“I know Jordan is an amazing player but he is not the only one on our list so we know our problem last season and the previous season was we didn't score enough goals to get promotion, we need to strengthen our squad with a striker and Jordan is on our list but we are working in other ways.”

While Blackburn appear to want more than £12m, Karanka revealed he is weary of hearing that his club is splashing the cash.

The £5.5m spent this summer on Stewart Downing represents Boro’s only outlay, while this week they sold Lee Tomlin for £3m, yet the manager believes the perception outside the Riverside is of a club investing heavily in its squad.

He said: “My only concern is – it's not new, I knew before coming here always when Middlesbrough is behind one deal everybody thinks Middlesbrough are spending a lot of money.

“This season, for example, everybody is saying Middlesbrough have spent a lot of money and the only money we have spent is on Stewart Downing.

“We spent money on Stewart because he wanted to come here and for me it is the main thing. When the chairman said Stewart wanted to join us I said 'tomorrow'.

“I want to have those kind of players here. The money that we are spending on Stuani we have recovered from Tomlin.

“It's the same old story, 'Middlesbrough are spending, Middlesbrough are spending'.”

Uruguayan striker Christian Stuani has arrived from Espanyol, but his place in the squad on Sunday remains uncertain “because of the paperwork,” explained Karanka. “He is training with the team and he is ready to play but we have to wait until everything is done.”

While Boro travel to Deepdale, Tomlin will hope to face Aston Villa as Bournemouth make their bow as a top-flight club and Karanka dismissed talk that he had fallen out with the playmaker.

Tomlin did not play in Middlesbrough’s final pre-season friendly last weekend, the manager explaining that he was ill.

“There was nothing personal,'' insisted Karanka. "He did not play because I got a message on Saturday morning from the physio telling me that he was unable to play.

“He was at the stadium because the doctor wanted to give him some medicine and he left because we didn’t want him to pass the virus on.

“He has an amazing opportunity to play in the Premier League and last season it was the same with Lukas Jutkiewicz. Lukas came to my office and said he wanted to leave because it was his opportunity to play in the Premier League.

“For me as a manager, to bring in a player 18 months ago who was not recognised [and then sell him to a Premier League club], it is because we are doing something well. I hope he will not forget this club but we have helped him to play in the Premier League.”

Karanka explained that Tomlin would’ve been among his first-choice XI, adding: “He played last season as a number ten and I told him this season that he was my first choice number ten.

“He could play as a number ten or as a left-winger and he knew that I trusted him. He was one of my favourite players and when I won manager of the month he won player of the month at the same time.

“It was nothing personal. He wanted to play in the Premier League and brought big money into the club.”