Middlesbrough’s youngest ever player Nathan Wood – who was sold to Swansea last summer – is the subject of a potential move to Southampton for an eye-watering £10m fee.
Wood, a former Middlesbrough FC academy graduate came through the Riverside ranks and made his debut as promising 16-year-old, but was surprisingly allowed to leave the club before fully realising his potential.
It is of little surprise that current Southampton boss and former Swansea manager Russel Martin has moved to secure the services of the 21-year-old, given the praise Martin gave him during his time at Swansea.
Former Boro man tipped for the top
Speaking in March of this year, as reported by BBC Football, Martin indicated just how highly he rated the centre-back, saying, “He is a huge asset to the football club, on the pitch and off the pitch.
“He’s been amazing – a young man who has just grown and grown on the pitch and off the pitch as well.
“He is becoming a real leader in the group. He’s an incredible learner and he’s incredibly brave with the way that he plays. He will play at the very top, no doubt about it.”
Ironically, he also intimated that he felt that Wood would be a ‘huge asset financially’ at some point.
What may be of some surprise, is the fee commanded for the towering defender. The fee has been a major point in conversation and has prompted some Middlesbrough fans to criticise their own club. They see the fee received only last summer as meagre in comparison to the sum spoken about today and have questioned the judgement of the club and the then-manager.
It does, however, appear that the club were shrewd enough to insert a percentage sell-on clause for him, which, given the reported fee of an initial £7m up front, with another £3m in add-ons, could mean a lucrative windfall for the club.
Nathan Wood and others ensure the club is sustainable
It points to a healthy state of play in terms of how Boro is being run. To look at the wider picture and the financial landscape, the sale of Djed Spence to Spurs (somewhere in the region of £20m), Marcus Tavernier (reported £12m deal) and now potentially a third academy graduate in as many years, being sold – albeit not by Middlesbrough – for an eight-figure sum. Even the biggest cynic would concede that the club is in a good place.
That is incredible business from a Championship club, and that is before you factor in the £12m received for 27-year-old Chuba Akpom, who had only one year left on his contract.
Fans might see it as frustrating to sell assets so readily, but the fact is, Middlesbrough are a club that needs to ensure it is sustainable. We are not currently a Premier League club and so it must be accepted that when big clubs come calling, the hierarchy need to orchestrate the most lucrative deal possible.
That does not look like changing. If anything, the current recruitment model is accentuating the need for that to continue. It has been noted that there has been a real drive to sign promising players under the age of 24 over the past year.
Hopefully, those players will stay at the club and help them towards their goal of reaching the Premier League. But if that dream is to falter, then at least we can rest easy that the club will not go to rack and ruin.