A former Arsenal player has opened up on how Middlesbrough made him consider ending his footballing career.
Middlesbrough have had their fair share of poor strikers over the last few decades.
Middlesbrough flop Martin Braithwaite is attracting interest from the Premier League this summer but previously struggled at the Riverside Stadium.
Record-signing Britt Assombalonga wanted ‘to fight’ Tony Pulis during his time in the North East.
Over the last two seasons, Boro have had more luck in the striker department thanks to improved recruitment and the management of Michael Carrick.
Chuba Akpom scored 29 goals in the 2022/23 season – the most of any Middlesbrough player since 1996/97.
Emmanuel Latte Lath, Akpom’s replacement, has had a superb start to life at the club, scoring 11 in his last 12 Championship games.
However, the strikers who have flopped at Middlesbrough far outway the few who have gone on to succeed with the Reds.
Yaya Sanogo hits out at Middlesbrough
One striker who did not even end up signing for Middlesbrough was Yaya Sanogo.
Sanogo moved to Arsenal in 2013 and was expected to have a bright future in the game.
However, he joined Toulouse on a free transfer from the Gunners in 2017 before being released by the French side three years later.
Boro were interested in signing the then-27-year-old in 2020 but a move fell through.
It was claimed at the time that the striker failed a medical but Sanogo has now refuted those claims, stating that Middlesbrough made him undergo surgery he did not need, which made other clubs turn away from signing him, as per Euro Sport.
He said: “In 2020, I was supposed to sign for Middlesbrough, all the details of the contract were tied up. It was at the time of Covid, after my three seasons at Toulouse.
“I spent 14 days in quarantine without being able to meet anyone. Once this period was over, I did the visit. They supposedly detected a problem with my shoulder that required an operation and 3 months of rehabilitation, according to them.
“So my contract… It was serious, it was hard. I went to see a shoulder specialist once I got home. They told me that I had nothing at all and that they had put it on the wrong way. That stopped me in my tracks, for the other clubs, I was injured.
“The worst part of all this was that the press wrote that I had failed the medical. So, the other clubs that were interested believed it and that stopped me completely. I was 27 at the time.”
Asked if he considered giving up, he added: “Yes, of course, we are human after all. I sometimes told myself that it was dead. I thought about it [quitting].
Middlesbrough have come a long way since Yaya Sanogo issue
Sanogo’s claims about Middlesbrough are not that hard to believe for long-time fans of the club.
Boro were a badly run operation for many years despite the best efforts of owner Steve Gibson.
However, the arrival of Kieran Scott as Head of Football and Carrick have completely transformed Middlesbrough.
The Teessiders now make smart decisions on the transfer front and actually plan for the long term.
Boro should be in the promotion race in the 2024/25 Championship season but even if they do not go up, the future looks bright.