Mido works on fitness after late return to Middlesbrough
LONDON, July 21 - Egyptian striker Mido is working on his fitness after finally reporting back for pre-season training at Middlesbrough, the English Championship (second division) club said on their website (www.mfc.co.uk) on Tuesday.
Boro manager Gareth Southgate was quoted by the BBC on Monday as saying Mido was not being paid after failing to report for training.
The striker joined Middlesbrough from Tottenham Hotspur in 2007 but made just 12 league appearances last season as Boro were relegated from the Premier League. He spent the end of last season on loan at Premier League Wigan Athletic.
Southgate said on Monday the striker's future would be decided once he had returned to the north east club.
"We will deal with what happens after that as and when he's ready to join in with training," Southgate had said.
Mido is not the first Egyptian to fall foul of an English manager. Last season Amr Zaki was late returning to Wigan from international duty in April, leading to an angry outburst from former boss Steve Bruce who described him at the time as the most unprofessional player he had worked with.
(Reporting by Ken Ferris and Martyn Herman; Editing by Justin Palmer; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
This story is from ESPN.com's automated news wire. Wire index
