Rav van den Berg had some of Europes biggest sides after his signature, however he made the decision to come to Boro.
At one stage or another, clubs like; Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Ajax and Roma ilk had all made their interest known for the teenager.
Van den Berg however quite maturely rejected these opportunities and instead has chosen to make a move to the Riverside.
The reasoning behind this for van den Berg is simple, he just wants to play football – therefore he chose to move to the club he saw the best chance of breaking into the first-team and playing regularly.
However he does appreciate he won’t be an instant starter, he believes he has the talent to earn his place in Michael Carrick’s side.
Van den Berg on Boro move
Van den Berg spoke with the Northern Echo about the reasons for his arrival to Boro and he pinpointed two huge influences in his decision.
On Carrick and Jonathan Woodgate he said, “both big influences in my decision” – seemingly his path to the first team is laid out.
He is aware of the clubs stature despite the current standing, he continued:
“It’s a really big club. If you look at the last 20-25 years, all that time in the Premier League.
“Yes, they’re currently in the Championship, but I think it’s a really cool league for a young player to play a lot of games.”
Van den Berg’s brother Sepp played in the Championship on-loan at Preston North End from Liverpool. With a positive review enough to tempt his younger brother to follow this path.
“My brother played in the Championship and when I talked with him he told me how much he grew in this league and learned about football,
“He said to me, ‘Just do it. You will learn from it and be a better player from it’.”
This is a signing which is hugely exciting not just for Boro but also for the Championship.