Middlesbrough boss Pulis talks about Burnley target Gibson

Burnley have had an £11m offer turned down for the 25-year-old, who has yet to make his senior England debut, but was on the bench in Paris last year when Tom Heaton started for the Three Lions.

The Clarets are keen to land a centre back before next Thursday’s deadline, and Pulis said: “The powers that be will talk about that.

“Ben has been a very good player for this club. If he has the opportunity to go to the Premier League then that's brilliant for Ben.

What has got to happen is this football club can get the best deal we possibly can and we know where the next centre half is. That's the way it works.

“Good players move on and they move on to bigger clubs,

“We'd love to say it's not going to happen and we can keep the Premier League clubs away from our players, but if they get the chance, everybody in the profession or in their right mind wants to play at the top level.

“If Ben gets opportunity - and I'm not sure where negotiations are - he seriously has to think about it. I'm, talking about Ben as a person.

“What we've got to do is respect it and make sure we're clever enough, organised enough and well set to invest money in players who can come who do similar job or even better.

“Sean (Dyche) has rung me up, he's been very honest with their approach. Players will know through agents, through other clubs, what's going on and what's not going on.

“It's not a case of them being shot on at the last minute. Ben has time to think about it, he could turn around and say ‘no I want to stay’, which would be fantastic.”