Southgate: Boro target (LaurenceGriffiths/Allsport)

The Teessiders have lodged a bid of around £7.25million for the 30-year-old and have been given permission by Aston Villa to speak to him as soon as he returns from holiday.

The England centre half has already said he does not want to join Middlesbrough, but their new manager Steve McClaren could entice Southgate with a £45,000-a-week, four-year contract worth more than £9m.

Southgate has maintained that he wants to leave Villa in order to play European football, which Boro cannot offer. He will be 31 in September and does not want to spend much longer out of the European limelight.

Southgate said on his website: 'I'd love the opportunity to challenge for honours and play in the Champions League. I cannot realistically see that happening at Villa at the moment.

'I am also conscious of my future in the England squad, because being part of the national side is important to me. It was no coincidence that everyone who played in the England side against Greece was from those sides that had played in Europe this season and I think it is important for me to be involved in those big matches.'

Southgate has dropped down the England pecking order since Sven Goran Eriksson's appointment as manager.

But McClaren is combining his job at Boro with that of national team coach alongside Eriksson and Southgate may think that playing his club football for someone so closely linked to the England squad could boost his international chances.

No other club has bid for Southgate yet. Celtic have been linked with him, but manager Martin O'Neill will be reluctant to spend that sort of money on one player.