Boro confirm Lee exit
by Alex Livie, 13 May 2008
Middlesbrough have confirmed South Korea misfit Lee Dong-gook has been shown the door and he will be joined in leaving The Riverside by Gaizka Mendieta and Fabio Rochemback.
Lee arrived on Teesside from Pohang Steelers in January 2007, but failed to make any sort of impact in The Premier League.
"We took a chance on signing Dong-gook at a time when money was tight," Boro chief Gareth Southgate told the club's website of the free transfer capture. "By his own admission he didn't play as well as he thought he could, but he was never a minute's problem.
"He has offers from clubs in Japan and possibly Germany so we wish him well.”
Spaniard Mendieta has been released, having been consigned to the reserves this term.
Southgate said: "It was a difficult situation for a player of Gaizka's calibre to find himself out of the first team reckoning. It was a dent to his pride.
"I made it clear to him that he did not figure in my plans but he decided to stay and try to get back into the first team. That didn't work out but his attitude to training was always excellent and he was a good influence on some of our young reserve team players."
Rochemback would appear to be on his way to former club Sporting, as he has headed to Portugal to undertake a medical.
Meanwhile, Boro have offered striker Tom Craddock and right back Tony McMahon one-year extensions to their current deals, which run out this summer.