Rafa Benitez segist vera ánægður með Boudewijn Zenden, en hann er byrjaður að æfa á fullu með liðinu. Þar sem að Hamann er að fara til Man City (Rafa staðfestir að hann er að fara) þá gæti Zenden fengið aukin tækifæri í liðinu í þeirri stöðu sem Steven Gerrard spilar vanalega:

“He is training again now and I was really happy with him at the end of last season. He was injured, but he was always in the dressing room and he was always encouraging his team-mates and supporting them.

“This year he has started pre-season training really well. I am thinking about using him sometimes as a central midfielder because he has experience at Middlesbrough in this position.

“He also has quality, and with his experience and his game intelligence he can give us more things I think he was happier in this position, and with us losing Hamann, we will have Momo Sissoko, Stevie Gerrard and Xabi Alonso for that position - and maybe Bolo, too.”

Þetta verður athyglisvert. Zenden var kosinn besti leikmaður Boro á þarsíðasta tímabili þegar hann lék nánast eingöngu á miðjunni.