The hot spots to fill
AS MIDDLESBROUGH once again missed out on promotion to the Premier League, the goal moving forward became clear.
After such an encouraging run to the play-offs under Michael Carrick’s guidance, the club are now ambitiously planning to strengthen their squad in the summer transfer window in order to give Carrick the tools they hope will help him take Boro back to the top flight.
Carrick is understood to have met with Boro’s recruitment team earlier last week before heading off for a summer break. It’s been described as a really positive meeting as solid plans were put in place for the summer transfer window.
The Gazette understands that the goal is to be ambitious with recruitment this summer, and there is a strong leaning towards quality over quantity with regard to the targets they have agreed upon, with an emphasis on first-teamready players as opposed to squaddepth focus. With that in mind, here are the positions Boro are likely to focus on this summer.
GOALKEEPER
While Boro have Sol Brynn returning from a successful loan spell, the academy graduate is just 22 and it would be a huge ask of him to step up with such higher expectations and a very particular style of player expected of the goalkeeper by Michael Carrick, which makes it such a crucial role in the Boro team.
Having lost Zack Steffen at the end of his loan spell and with the likelihood of re-signing him slim, Boro are likely to need a new firstchoice goalkeeper this summer. Not only will they hope to find someone more capable of shotstopping that the Man City loanee, but someone as capable as him with the ball at their feet.
LEFT-BACK
Ryan Giles provided 11 assists for Boro last season and was such a crucial player for Carrick. With his loan over and his return to Wolves this summer, it leaves a big spot to fill in the starting XI. Hayden Coulson returns from a loan spell at Aberdeen, but it remains to be seen if he’s improved enough in his time away to fill that hole adequately.
Far more likely is for Coulson to play back up to a new signing, with Boro remaining hopeful that Wolves might be willing to sell Giles this summer.
Boss Julen Lopetegui was coy on the 22-year-old’s future, but did also talk about Wolves’ issue with financial fair play, which could strengthen Boro’s position.
DEEP-LYING MIDFIELDER
Though Jonny Howson, right, has signed a new 12-month contract to remain at
Boro next season, he is 35 now and it remains a goal to sign a longterm replacement for the long-serving skipper. Dan Barlaser joined in January, but is more in the mould of Hayden Hackney with a far more attackminded nature.
That’s probably why, with Howson missing for the play-offs, Carrick went with loanee Alex Mowatt. That’s not to say that Hackney and Barlaser can’t play together in some games, but merely that wellbalanced squads have alternative options in order to cope with different threats that different sides have.
A midfielder more in the mould of Howson would really benefit Boro this summer, because the biggest compliment you could give the Boro skipper is that it’s still very noticeable when he’s absent.
WIDE FORWARD
Aaron Ramsey was able to have a really positive impact after getting back to fitness when joining Boro on loan in January. His direct style and flair was another example of where having alternative options in your squad is beneficial, with Riley McGree more a technical playmaker and Marcus Forss a hardworking and dr iven wide player.
Ramsey proved a wide forward capable of producing a moment of magic to unlock stubborn defences and while Boro will hope that Isaiah Jones can use the summer to rediscover his form and confidence, a fourth wide forward to compete for the two roles in the side would be of huge benefit to Boro’s attack.
STRIKER
Boro were playing well under Carrick before the January transfer window opened, but the signing of Cameron Archer on loan from Aston Villa catapulted them to another level. The striker’s pace, strength and mobility made him the ideal man to lead Boro’s fluid attack, while he proved a prolific goalscorer too.
As the youngster returns to Villa Park with uncertainty over his next move, Boro must plan for life without him. They’d love to have him back, but if that proves to be something Villa aren’t willing to sanction then Boro will need to find a striker capable of impacting the side in the same manner that the England youth international did.
OTHER FOCUS
Many supporters would probably point to the fact that only one side in the top ten of the Championship conceded more goals than Boro and question whether a new centre-back is required. But unless someone is sold, it seems unlikely to be an area Boro prioritise this summer.
The goals conceded were more a risk of the expansive style that Boro play, with an attitude more akin to, ‘if you score one, we’ll score two or three’ under Carrick. In Darragh Lenihan, Paddy McNair and Dael Fry, Boro have three centre-backs who would be the envy of most Championship clubs.
As a fourth option, it’s important not to forgot about Matt Clarke either who, prior to joining Boro had won Player of the Year in four of his last five seasons at three different clubs.
His injury this season is a really frustrating one but the fact he remains at Rockliffe training with club physios while his team-mates are away on holiday is a testament to his desire to resolve his troublesome back issue.
McNair and Fry are both about to enter the final year of their respective contracts, however. If either or both were to be sold then they would have to be replaced, but Carrick seemed to trust both and rotated them in the second half of the season
depending on the challenge
the particular opposition offered. That’s likely to be the case with any other signings too, with the need for anymore only really dependent on other outgoings. Chuba Akpom is likely t o attract plenty of interest and the club
will be aware of that as they plan for the summer transfer window and have targets in mind.
They’d prefer to keep their key man though, which is the case with Hackney too, who is also said to have Premier League clubs watching him.
Beyond that, lesser-used players might ask to move on for more game-time, in which case Boro would have to consider whether they had a younger player ready to step up as deputy to the starter or if a replacement was required.