It has been revealed that Middlesbrough have a buy clause option in the deal that saw Sam Greenwood join the club on loan this summer.
According to reports in The Athletic, there is a £1.5 million option to buy the attacking midfielder, should the Teesside club want to activate it.
It has led to Leeds fans openly criticising the decision on social media, especially as Greenwood has performed particularly well, starting the last two matches for Boro and looking much more like the player that excited Leeds fans early in his career. Carrick said last week that he expects Greenwood to make a ‘big impact’ in the coming months.
What is also evident from Boro’s point of view, is that they have been shrewd enough to get that option inserted and is another instance where they could bag a very good player with potential for a small fee.
A shrewd purchase
At only 21-years-old, it is hard to imagine that if Greenwood continues in the same vain, he won’t be worth at least that in a year or two, so whatever happens and wherever his career may lay in the future, Boro will potentially have a saleable asset if they were to buy him.
Remarkably, there has been some disparaging comments about Boro’s recruitment process this season, particularly earlier in the season, largely born out of frustration at the results recorded by Michael Carrick’s team.
However, Carrick has remained calm and delivered four wins on the bounce in the Championship in recent weeks and has turning to some of his more experienced Championship players to help the club turn a corner, whilst gradually integrating his new arrivals into the set-up.
Sensible spending
Is it true to say that the club has been much more frugal with the money allocated for buying players? yes, absolutely. But there should be some praise for some of those players who have arrived for free or next to nothing and now look like real assets.
Look at Isaiah Jones, bought for next to nothing from Tooting and Mitcham, experienced professionals like Darragh Lenihan and Tommy Smith, both free agents. Hayden Hackney, Dael Fry, and Josh Coburn all players via the club’s academy.
Then you have the likes of Matt Crooks, Dan Barlaser and Lukas Engel, all costing less than £2 million. It appears the club are making much better judgements with regards to transfer spending off the pitch and player development on it.
With the exception maybe of Paddy McNair (a player purchased 5 years ago), who ironically probably wouldn’t have played if Darragh Lenihan was fit, the whole team that was selected to play against Sunderland cost somewhere in the region of just £6.3 million.
Finally Middlesbrough appear to be making good decisions off the pitch with Kieran Scott as head of recruitment. That is complimented by very competent coaching staff in Michael Carrick, Aaron Danks and Jonathan Woodgate, who are all helping to make those player purchases even more valuable.