(L-R) Mido, Emnes and Digard cost Boro a total of �13.2m

Middlesbrough boss Gordon Strachan has told Mido, Marvin Emnes and Didier Digard they will not be part of his 25-man squad for the forthcoming season.

The trio returned to pre-season training this summer but Strachan has revealed the players are surplus to requirements at the Riverside.

"They'll not be playing here next year," Strachan told BBC Tees.

"I'm sure there are teams out there in Europe that will need them. The group I work with will not include them."

Boro snapped up Digard for £4m from Paris Saint Germain, and Emnes for £3.2m from Sparta Rotterdam in July 2008, while Mido arrived on Teesside from Tottenham Hotspur for £6m in August 2007.

Strachan has been busy fine-tuning his squad this summer with the arrival of players such as Kris Boyd, Kevin Thomson, Tarmo Kink and Stephen McManus, bankrolled by chairman Steve Gibson.

And the former Aberdeen and Scotland midfielder paid tribute to the hard work of the chairman and chief executive Keith Lamb in supporting his newly formed squad.

"The chairman has done well and so has Keith to get players in reasonably quickly so we can be together for a fair amount of time, because there'll be lot of business goes on between now and the end of the window," Strachan said.

"The chairman has allowed us to get players together, which is good."

Championship favourites Middlesbrough begin the season with a home game against Ipswich Town on Saturday.

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