Gareth Southgate insists that none of his most prominent players are available for sale, but Chelsea have a habit of getting what they want.
Money talks, just as Boro accepted Everton's £11.25million bid for Ayegbeni Yakubu last August, although they claim it was only when it became clear that the Nigerian was desperate for a move.
Southgate: "The chairman and I are in agreement - we have got to build steadily.
"We know we can't throw a lot of money down, so there has to be a balance.
"We have had to do that throughout my time here, but I'm not under any pressure to sell players.
"We will look at any potential loans or free transfers that may improve us.
"Overall, I feel we are a club that need to try to grab players before they are big names.
"The signings we made during the summer show the way we are trying to go.
"We have been delighted with Didier Digard and Justin Hoyte, and we still feel there's much more to come from Marvin Emnes.
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We have got to be aware of what's going on around the world, and we certainly have a far better database now than we did, say, 18 months ago."
We have got to be aware of what's going on around the world, and we certainly have a far better database now than we did, say, 18 months ago."