Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson has reportedly turned down a takeover offer from a Chinese consortium.

According to The Sun, Gibson has been in talks with a group headed up by Chinese-American billionaire Chien Lee over a potential deal for several months.

Lee is thought to be keen to buy up a number of clubs around Europe and purchased Ligue 1 side Nice last year before failing with a bid for Hull City.

The newspaper claims that Lee and his associates travelled to the Riverside multiple times in an attempt to convince Gibson to sell up, but he has refused to cash in on his boyhood team.

Gibson took over Boro in 1986, famously forming a consortium to save the club from liquidation with just 10 minutes to spare.