Middlesbrough could be helped by Championship promotion rivals Leeds United and Burnley in keeping Ben Doak this month - with Liverpool said to be using two recent sales by the clubs as the basis for the valuation of the winger.

The Reds last week rejected offers of around £15 million for Doak from Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town - though reports suggest neither are yet deterred from their efforts to land the 19-year-old Boro loan star this month. Boro officials are monitoring the situation closely, but, with the situation ultimately out of their hands, can do little more than stay focused on their next game against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday while putting contingency plans in place just in case the worst materialises.

Liverpool are said to be happy with Doak's spell at Boro so far, and, with the player himself loving his time on Teesside, are happy to allow him to stay until the end of the season. However, they are said to be willing to recall him to sell, providing their valuation of £30 million is met.

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And according to a report from the Daily Mail, that valuation comes from Liverpool chiefs using the examples of the £25m West Ham paid for Crysencio Summerville from Leeds United last summer and the £30m Tottenham paid Burnley for Wilson Odobert. Whether Palace, Ipswich or anyone else for that matter, is willing to meet Liverpool's demands this month remains to be seen.

Though reports on Monday suggested Palace were readying a new bid worth around £20m plus performance-related add-ons to take it closer to Liverpool's demands, new reports suggest they might be looking at alternative options to Doak also. According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Millwall star Romain Esse is a player high on the Eagles' list and they've made contact over a potential transfer, which is described as 'not an easy deal for January'.

Though there's still plenty of time for many more twists and turns in this January window, there at least remains hope for Boro that, with a little help from Leeds and Burnley, Doak could remain a Boro player until the end of the season. Given his importance to their promotion push, it would be a huge boost for Michael Carrick.