‘We are in a good place’ on transfers
CHRIS Wilder remains delighted and optimistic about the progress Middlesbrough are making this summer as he continues his attempts to strengthen his squad.
The Boro boss offered an update on transfers after watching his side kick-off their pre-season schedule with a 5-0 win at Bishop Auckland.
All three new signings so far this summer were in action in the victory, with Liam Roberts playing the full 90 minutes in goal while Darragh Lenihan and Ryan Giles appeared for the first 45 minutes.
Former Huddersfield and Stoke right-back Tommy Smith was also in action the first half at Bishops, the defender currently training at the club ahead of potentially earning a new contract.
There is still plenty of work to be done to get the squad looking exactly as Wilder wants it, of course, and while the Boro boss would not name any names he did say he was delighted with where things were and said things were progressing on a couple of their targets.
Asked about reports linking Boro with a loan move for Manchester City goalkeeper Zack Steffen, Wilder said: “I thought Roberts was great at Bishop Auckland.
“He didn’t have a lot to do but he’s impressed everybody with his personality as much as his ability.
“He’s a really good addition to the goalkeeping department, although we’re after another one.
“There’ll be names linked but I’m never going to come out and talk about them until they’re in a Middlesbrough shirt because so much can happen between talks and signing.
“We’re progressing nicely with a few potential signings.
“A lot of the clubs have only come back this week, whereas we’ve been back for a week before that.
“We’re ramping it up. The players are enjoying the work, we’ve had the first competitive game now.”
He added: “There’s still a lot of work to do and we’ll be ramping it up again next week on the training pitch in the gym and in terms of recruitment. I’m delighted in terms of where we are.
“I’m delighted with the players we’ve brought in and the further additions which we can potentially make, which are exciting.
“Everybody wants the players in the here and now and for them to be here straight away and that would be the ideal for me too but it doesn’t just happen, it takes time.
“However, we’re in a good place and we’ll keep working away.”
While Roberts’ arrival this summer has allowed the club to loan out three young goalkeepers as well as let Joe Lumley go, Wilder’s options are a little more stretched upfront right now after three loan strikers left the club at the end of last season.
That was evident at Bishops in the opening friendly of the summer, with Duncan Watmore the only senior striker supplemented by Josh
Coburn, Sonny Finch and Cal Kavanagh. All three are talented boys and in Coburn’s case will be expected to be part of the first-team plans next term - but with Wilder liking a quota of five strikers it’s clear that it’s a priority position for Boro to recruit in this summer.
Asked for an update on that front, he said: “There have been a lot of inquiries but I think it’s probably the most difficult position to fill.
“We had a meeting with the chairman on Thursday and he’s just as ambitious and enthusiastic in terms of trying to get players in at the top of the pitch. We understand we’ve got to do that.
“We have Duncan and young Josh there but historically I’ve gone with five players in that position.
“Riley McGree could play as a number ten if we needed him to do that but we need to bring two or three in, and we all know that.
“Kieran Scott knows that and he’s working away upstairs as hard as ever, as we all are.
“We’re trawling through things but if you look at the movement of centre-forwards across all the leagues there’s not much happening.
“I spoke to a pal who works at Everton last week.
“They’ve just moved Richarlison on and they’re having a real struggle getting someone in - and that’s a huge club with big resources.
“We’re all after that player who can score 20 goals a season but it’s such a difficult gap to fill. We’re still confident the deeper we go into the window, though, we’ll be making waves and getting people in.”
With Boro needing bodies in that position, Wilder has been linked with a reunion with David McGoldrick on Teesside after the pair had great success at Sheffield United.
“Asked about the now-free agent striker, Wilder said: “You’re always going to have players being linked with us but we feel we’re working away diligently. They have to be the right ones but it really isn’t an easy market - as we found out in January. It’s the toughest of markets.”