Middlesbrough said it hopes to sign Real Madrid's France midfielder Christian Karembeu after the June 10-July 2 European Soccer Championships.
The north-east England club denied Spanish newspaper reports saying the 29-year-old World Cup-winner agreed to join for a transfer fee of 600 million pesetas ($3.3 million).
``He remains a target, but the decision is up to him,'' said Middlesbrough spokesman Graham Bell. ``He was supposed to make his mind up after the Champions League final, but we've now read he'll decide after Euro 2000. We're just keeping our fingers crossed.''
Karembeu, currently training with the French squad in preparation for Euro 2000, joined European champion Real from Sampdoria in January 1998 after going on strike at the Italian club to force his sale.
Real paid Sampdoria 600 million pestas for the 1995 Oceania Footballer of the Year, an award he qualified for because he was born in New Caledonia. He won the French championship with Nantes in 1995.