Middlesbrough want to sign Aaron Lennon.

Boro executive Keith Lamb said: “[Chairman] Steve Gibson and I are appalled at the way Tottenham conduct their business,”

“We are shocked and disappointed that they should talk publicly about their interest in one of our players.

“They have not made a £10 million offer for Stewart, and would be wasting their time if they did.

“In actual fact, they made a derisory offer.

“I won’t even be responding to the bid because they knew in advance that it would be unacceptable.

“We can only consider that it was a mischievous attempt to unsettle Stewart and cause a problem between the player and his hometown club.

“If that is the case, it won’t succeed, and we won’t be giving their offer even the courtesy of a rejection.

“We would be more interested in buying Aaron Lennon from Spurs than selling Stewart because we remain extremely ambitious to take this club forward.

“In fact, during the course of our talks with Spurs, we have already expressed our interest in signing Lennon.”