The Sunday Sun is the Beano of the Sunday tabloids. Ask the Mags and the Mackems - don't just take my word for it.
And any EXCLUSIVE is a guarantee the article is bollox.
They do put a question mark to it - But any swoop will depend on the Teessiders raising funds by offloading Afonso Alves and Tuncay Sanli, with German club FC Cologne understood to be tracking the Turkish international.
Though Boro have made a promising start to the season, Gareth Southgate still wants to boost their goalscoring threat.
Top target Rob Hulse last week revealed he is keen to stay at Derby County, while Southgate denied any interest in Aberdeen’s Lee Miller.
But, as he has proved at Cardiff City, Norwich and Nottingham Forest, Earnshaw can be a far more prolific proposition in the Championship.
The 28-year-old Welsh international joined Forest on a £2.65m, three-year deal from Derby last summer.
But with Forest in need of cash to land their prime targets – Gareth Bale and Calum Davenport – they could be tempted to sell.