Boro set sights on United pair

MANCHESTER United duo Paul Scholes and Gary Neville are wanted by relegated Middlesbrough.

Manager Gareth Southgate believes the wealth of experience possessed by the 34-year-olds can help Boro win back their Barclays Premier League place at the first attempt.

Scholes and Neville, who are under contract with the Reds until the end of the 2009/10 season, are no longer first-team regulars at Old Trafford.

And rather than becoming peripheral figures, they would be guaranteed starting spots if they moved to Teesside.

Boro would be looking to land the pair on a season-long loan, with the added incentive of involvement in coaching.

Grasscroft-based Scholes has already been linked with moves to newly-promoted Burnley and Stoke City.

Scholes and Neville have to decide whether to stay with the Reds or move to get more minutes on the pitch.

It is a dilemma for the pair who have each spent the whole of their illustrious playing careers with the Reds.

Sir Alex Ferguson, who has seen Cristiano Ronaldo join Real Madrid and looks likely to lose Carlos Tevez, has to decide whether he can allow Scholes and Neville to leave in what could be a summer of major changes at Old Trafford, with reserve striker Fraizer Campbell poised to join Hull City in a £6million move.