Emerson and wife may be back soon

Middlesbrough's unsettled Brazilian midfield player Emerson last night indicated that he may return to the club next week with his wife, Andrea.

Emerson has angered Middlesbrough by staying in Rio de Janiero to comfort his wife, who is unhappy at the prospect of living in the North-east. The club have threatened him with heavy fines and are refusing to release him from a four-year contract.

Emerson said: "I intend to return to Middlesbrough with my wife, possibly next week. I can't leave at the moment as she is bed-ridden and depressed."

Earlier in the day it appeared Emerson was ready to give up football rather than leave his wife. Emerson's agent, Gianni Paladini, speaking on Radio 5 Live, said: "He is madly in love with this lady and he cannot live without her. He puts his wife before anything else and as far as I can see he couldn't care less about playing football for the rest of his life."

Emerson was quoted as saying: "There is no money worth more to me than my family... the problem is my family, nothing else. My wife is the most important thing in my life and until she is well, I cannot come back. I will return when she is ready to go.

"The only way to solve things would be for my family to move to England. I have tried to convince my parents to come to Middlesbrough so that they could be company for us, but I have not been able to convince them to set foot in an aircraft."