As reported by The Daily Mail, Middlesbrough are ready to prepare for life after Gaston Ramirez and are considering a move for Aston Villa's Jack Grealish.

What's the story?

Ramirez has been one of Boro's key players this season and the prospect of losing him is a grim one indeed for the Riverside faithful.

They may be buoyed then by the report from the Daily Mail, which says that Boro are planning to replace him with one of the brightest young English midfield talents around, Villa's Jack Grealish.

The paper say that Boro are holding firm on Ramirez's outgoing transfer for now, not impressed with Leicester's initial £12m bid, but a fee of £15m could see them reach a compromise and let him leave the club.

Likewise, the Mail say a significant fee would be needed to land Grealish.

The answer?

Investing in Jack Grealish now could prove to be a very good bit of business. Still only 21 years old, he has a great degree of potential as a Premier League attacking midfielder.

Already making close to 70 appearances for Villa in the top-flight and this season in the Championship, he's making the progress required to be tipped as a future England international.

The young midfielder made the switch to the English national team set-up last year, making his first appearances for the U21 side after featuring at youth level for the Republic of Ireland.

He may not be the finished article but using funds from the reported Ramirez deal to secure the future of one of the country's finest prospects seems like smart business to us.

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