Tranmere Rovers manager Ronnie Moore has said that he is keen for Ben Gibson to return to the club on loan before the end of the season.
The Middlesbrough defender's recent spell at Prenton Park was cut short by injury, but Moore confirmed that both parties are interested in securing a new deal.
"He's desperate to come back and we're desperate to have him," Sky Sports News quotes Moore as saying. "He's been absolutely fantastic for us and I'd like to think that we have been for him.
"He's signed a new four-year contract at Middlesbrough so I'd like to think that's obviously [because] he's proven he can play at this level.
"I would imagine that Tony [Mowbray] is going to push him more next season to get him into that side."
Tranmere sit at the top of League One on goal difference going into this weekend's visit to Swindon Town.