It was an uncharacteristic day of very little movement for many on transfer deadline day, with Middlesbrough one of those who conducted all of their business early.
Fans on Teesside had prepared the coffee and buckled in for what they thought might be an evening of number crunching and club announcements. Well, they would have presumably hoped for at least one arrival, but it was not to be.
The general feeling was that Boro needed to strengthen in the striker department with ongoing injuries to Latte Lath and Josh Coburn. Boro also lost Morgan Rogers who had stepped into the role as a makeshift forward.
Boro won’t buy for the sake of it
That said, the club have been very honest about their proposed business and made it very clear that they would only recruit the ‘right’ player and would not succumb to buying or loaning for the sake of it. There was very little movement in terms of strikers transferring in the January window, which is often the case as clubs do not want to strengthen their rivals at a pivotal time in the season.
The only relatively high profile forward signings in the Championship were Fabio Carvalho to Hull City and Kieffer Moore to Ipswich. Whilst Carvalho looks an excellent loan, Moore is a more complex one. Moore is a competent centre-forward at this level and no doubt will do well with Ipswich, but he could be viewed as a similar striker to Coburn. In that sense, the club may have decided that they would rather continue with Coburn’s development.
Surprise Riverside departure
The club also decided to part company with young academy striker Calum Kavanagh on the final day of the window. That was a minor surprise, especially given the lack of an arrival in that department. But if Kavanagh wanted game time and Carrick could not offer that guarantee, it makes sense for an ambitious 20-year-old player to want to further his career.
Aside from all the talk of a striker, Boro did strengthen well in defence with the astute loans of Luke Ayling from Leeds and Leicester’s Luke Thomas. The also did some good business getting the talented Finn Azaz on a permanent contract.
So, what does that mean for Boro’s options for the rest of the campaign? We assess how the squad looks in each department now that the window has closed.
Goalkeeper
No real concerns here. Tom Glover has deputised well in the absence of Dieng. You would hope that the Senegalese stopper is not far away from a return, which then gives Carrick two very steady keepers to call upon.
Defence
The recruitment team have strengthened well in this area. Luke Ayling adds so much, and not just in terms of being a reliable right-back. His organisation and communication, not to mention leadership will be invaluable during the run-in.
Luke Thomas is also a great addition and in spite of his tender years, he brings plenty of experience having played 70 games in the Premier League.
With the returning Matt Clarke and Paddy McNair joining Dael Fry and Rav van den Berg, Boro now have an embarrassment of riches at centre-back. At right-back Carrick niow has two options in Ayling and Anfernee Dijksteel. With Alex Bangura out through injury, Thomas comes in to share the work load with Lukas Engel.
Midfield
The central areas are now well stocked and with Hackney and O’Brien now back to full fitness, Michael Carrick can manage that demanding role with some rotation, especially in the case of Howson, who will be very important to Boro’s success. His workload can be effectively managed with Barlaser and O’Brien more than able deputies.
The attacking midfield areas obviously saw the biggest transactions take place and the drawn out protracted transfer of Morgan Rogers to Aston Villa was met by most fans with the sensible response it deserved. He had an exciting opportunity to join a top performing Premier League team and the club negotiated well to fetch a fee way beyond what they paid just six months earlier.
There is no getting away from the fact that Rogers had performed excellently and was improving with every game, but fact that Azaz had been brought in before hand definitely softened that blow.
With the impending return of McGree and Silvera, who join Greenwood, Crooks, Jones and Forss (we’ll come to him later) there should be enough quality and creativity for Carrick to select from.
Striker
The problem area, if it fair to call it that. Carrick will not need telling that his side are crying out for a little bit more depth up front. Emannuel Latte Lath is still out and Josh Coburn is being nursed along. He should be fit enough to play in Boro’s next game against Sunderland, but two games a week will be a stretch. That means that we could see Matt Crooks playing up top, because true to our recent bad luck, the injury that will see Isaiah Jones missing for the next few weeks, means that Marcus Forss is likely to be needed o the right-hand side.
That is not disastrous though, as Forss always finds a way to make direct runs towards goal and so goals should not be too hard to come by. It just means that in those tight games, we will have to be clinical.
The club were unable to make a breakthrough with a striker, which may explain why there was a tentative interest shown in Burnley’s winger Manuel Benson. It would have allowed Forss to be employed more centrally.
Hopefully, holding out for the right player will mean we are in a stronger position in terms of FFP come the summer.
Play-offs still achievable
Essentially, Boro are now vying for just two available play-off places. Maybe not mathmatically, but you would have to assume that barring any kind of capitulation, Leicester, Leeds, Southampton and Ipswich will achieve a play-off place. Add to that the vastly improved form of Coventry and Hull and a cluster of other dangerous teams, and you realise how difficult it will be.
But If Boro can establish a settled side, and some momentum, there is no reason why this group can’t reach the top six. After that, anything is possible.