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Swansea boss cools links with midfielder leaving club to join high-flying Middlesbrough
SWANSEA head coach Francesco Guidolin has played down talk of Jefferson Montero joining Middlesbrough.
Jefferson Montero has been linked with a move away from Swansea with Middlesborough interested
The Ecuador winger had been linked with a loan move to Aitor Karanka's promotion hopefuls, with a view to completing a permanent switch in the summer should Boro reach the Premier League.
Having started the season in sensational form - which saw him linked with Bayern Munich - Montero's performances have trailed off alarmingly and he has yet to feature since Guidolin took charge last month.
But the 60-year-old Italian said: "All the players are important. We do not want to lose any players. I want all my players here and I want them to play well. They will have a chance to play here so we want them to be at their best for us. This is true of Montero and Bafetimbi Gomis.
"As I said in January, we will always look to make our team stronger but we cannot lose players and make ourselves weaker for the end of the season."