Karanka confirms interest in PSG's Jese

London - Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka has confirmed that the Premier League side are in talks with Paris St-Germain forward Jese Rodriguez.

Karanka says he is hopeful he can bring in the former Real Madrid youth product to the English top-flight on a temporary switch in a bid to retain their status in the league.

The 23-year-old forward has struggled to command regular game time in the French capital since joining the Ligue 1 Champions for £21m after initially leaving Los Blancos to secure first-team football.

"Jese is a player I have worked with. I know how good he is," he told BBC Football "His next move is important. I hope we can convince him.

"He can bring us a lot of things. The last five or six months have been difficult for him. He couldn't settle in the way he wanted so he has to be sure."

Karanka also confirmed that they've launched a bid for Hull City play-maker Robert Snodgrass, who's reportedly in advanced talks with Burnley after the Tigers accepted a £10m bid for the Scotland international.

Karanka also refused to apologise for criticising Middlesbrough fans for what he thought were exceedingly high expectation for his team saying that he had no need to apologise as there were 'two types of fans'.