Middlesbrough centre-back Daniel Ayala is no closer to knowing where he will be playing his football next season, according to the defender’s wife.

The Spaniard’s contract at the Riverside Stadium expires at the end of next month, and when pictures surfaced on Instagram of the player’s family moving house, speculation began to grow about his potential departure.

However, Ayala’s wife moved to clarify the situation when she replied in an Instagram Q&A:

“I knew this question would be the most asked, but at the moment we don’t know anything yet. It’s no secret Daniel’s contract ends this summer, but that wasn’t the reason we left our house up north.”

“We had outgrown the house so we decided we would come back down south and look for a new house maybe closer to Yarm if Daniel gets a new contract.”

At the moment, it is difficult to tell what will happen. If the Championship season does resume next month, Boro are in danger of losing Ayala before the campaign finishes.

With that in mind, it is possible that some sort of short-term extension will be sorted out so the 29-year-old can stay to play in the remaining fixtures.

Beyond that, though, things don’t look promising. The Teessiders already had a financial shortfall following the end of parachute payments, and the impact of the global health crisis means they may not be able to offer Ayala a new deal even if they wanted to.