MENDIETA TO RETIRE
Gaizka Mendieta will retire when his contract with Middlesbrough expires, according to reports in Spain. The 33-year-old Spaniard is currently frozen out of the first-team picture at The Riverside despite their current lowly position in the Premier League. Mendieta was told in January he could leave and last featured for the club 12 months ago. Now Valencia-based newspaper Levante claims that Mendieta will hang-up his boots next summer.
Should Mendieta quit, he will bring to an end a glittering career which will have spanned 17 years. Bilbao-born Mendieta began his career at Castellon before joining Valencia in 1992, where he shone in a nine-year career at La Mestalla.
Mendieta captained Valencia to successive UEFA Champions League finals before switching to Lazio in 2001 for 48 million euros. His stay in Rome lasted just 12 months before he was loaned to Barcelona, but again that move was not a success and he joined Middlesbrough - again on a temporary basis in 2003. He helped Boro to their first ever trophy with the Carling Cup success in 2004 and was signed on a permanent deal.
But injuries curtailed his career on Teesside which led to him falling out-of-favour under Southgate. A number of clubs in Spain as well as America and the Middle East have shown an interest - but it now appears Mendieta, who picked up 38 caps, will retire.
