Tony Mowbray is wrestling with the dilemma confronting many a club.

How can he slash a L16 million wage bill, keep cleaning up the mess left by relegation from the Premier League, and the loss of parachute payments... and at the same time create a team that can win promotion next season?

Boro have had one of the most productive youth Academies in the country handing a big break to an illustrious list of top stars including Stewart Downing and Adam Johnson in recent years.

But it appears they are also now turning to another route, which suggests that even at much-lauded talent finders Boro, young English kids will be battling ever more with continental imports for their chance in the first team.

A decade ago Alen Boksic used to earn L60,000-a-week as Middlesbrough's striker. The irony now is that Boksic, assistant manager of the Croatian national team, could end up playing a part in the club's bid to cut costs.

Former L3million-a-year man Boksic was on Teesside at the weekend, reviving memories of a cash laden era at the Riverside, but also to hold talks about creating a link up between Boro and Croatia - which could see cheaper talent imported to help Mowbray solve his penury versus promotion problem.

Mowbray is searching for ways of cutting Middlesbrough's L16 million wage bill, while remaining competitive against teams who will be relegated from the top flight this season with parachute payments of L27million. A fortune compared with the also-rans who are long gone, or were never in, the top flight who only get L3million TV money a season.

Even at Championship level, buying English, or British, can be expensive compared to the gems on offer from abroad and desperate  for a break on the fringes of the Premier League.

Boro already have a link up with Juninho's Brazilian club Ituano, and are looking at forging more partnerships abroad hoping to lure affordable talent.

Maybe we'll only see the fruits of the project, and the impact (negative, or otherwise) on Boro's Academy production line, in years to come. Perhaps the policy will work best in tandem with Boro's brilliant Academy, and English players will still emerge.

But Mowrbay explains what he calls his "conundrum" like this: "How are we going to get a team to get out of the league with not spending any more money but actually cutting more money from the budget?

"How will we get better with a further reduction? That's the conundrum when you are losing money off the budget. Surely you would get worse. We have to find the answer, come up with a solution. That's the answer if we have any ambition.

"I've had conversations with the chairman along the lines of how are we going to get a team together to compete and get out of this league? Hopefully we have found some solutions and will find more of those in the summer.

"It will undoubtedly be about reductions because of Financial Fair Play. It will be more reductions, and more reductions. That's why we have to find a way to do it.

"It is important that it is recognised that such a situation is new for the club. We have to find a way of putting a team together which is good enough to get out of this league.

"How will we do it? How many more Grant Leadbitters are out there to get us out of this league? Will we be able to find players good enough to get us out of the league?

"If the answers are no, the pressure keeps mounting for next season. The fans will be grumbling, are we all happy? No. So what's the point. I will move on, the club brings Joe Bloggs in and everyone gets excited for a couple of games, but then reality hits because the players are the players. Over the course of a full season you need to have the quality to win the matches. Where will that quality come from?

"I have been a manager for nine/ten years and I have had relative success. I want to be out of this league, I want to be managing in the top half of this division and above. I have spent money in the past to do that elsewhere, but sold a team to do that too.

"We made money ourselves at West Brom. We sold Diomansy Kamara to Fulham, Jason Koumas to Wigan and Curtis Davies to Aston Villa. Yet we bought Chris Brunt, James Morrison, Jonas Olsson, Youssuf Mulumbu and Graham Dorrans. And won the league basically."

Mowbray will be wheeling and dealing again this summer with a limited hand.

Despite a run of eight points from 51, plunging from second to tenth in the league and out of the play off picture, Mowbray's job is secure.

They play Nottingham Forest tonight. Discovering how to lead Boro back to the promised land next season will see no stone unturned around Europe. Expect another Croatian star to emerge, but not one on the wages the last one, Boksic, earned.