Young star is one to watch

IT hasn’t taken long for Boro’s talented young defender Dael Fry to be linked with a host of leading Premier League clubs.

Certainly the 20-year-old home-grown player looks a great prospect.

But we should not worry unduly that Fry might be whisked away in January by Chelsea or Manchester United in a whirlwind £30m transfer deal.

No doubt the England Under-21 international has enjoyed his brief run of ten games in the Boro side. Certainly his progress has been marked.

However he will need a great deal more pitch-time under his belt before the big clubs might be tempted to come in with a big offer.

We were all led to believe that the major clubs would be involved in a bidding war for the vastly more experienced Ben Gibson this summer. But it didn’t happen.

Boro might still have sold Gibson to West Brom for almost £20m but they dug their feet in.

It will be a similar situation with Fry.

Boro do not need to sell any of their players.

The likely scenario in the immediate future is that the top clubs will keep a watching brief on Fry’s progress.

In any case, Fry faces a battle to force himself back into the Boro line-up, having been left out against Brentford.

Naturally it’s a bonus to see Premier League clubs sniffing around. It’s better than having no interest from the big boys, because it means that you’ve got talented players.

Garry Monk gives the impression that he will promote his best young players if they are good enough.

There are several others queuing behind Fry.

Marcus Tavernier, Lewis Wing and George Miller are among those who spring to mind.

Miller was a summer signing from Bury, where he was a regular scorer last season.

And he has already made a big impression for Boro Under-23s.

In fact the 19-year-old is the recent winner of the club’s goal of the month competition.