Middlesbrough fans do not quite know what to expect from several of their players going into 2024/25.
It has been a summer of change at the Riverside Stadium so far. 10 players have left Middlesbrough over the last few months.
Michael Carrick has also made four new additions to his Boro team in the current window.
Luke Ayling, Delano Burgzorg, and Aidan Morris have joined the first-team squad, while Harley Hunt is now in Boro’s academy.
Tommy Conway is expected to join Middlesbrough this month as well and Boro will pay £3.5m to Manchester City for Micah Hamilton.
Said signings will give Carrick plenty of quality options all across the pitch and it will be interesting to see how the manager sets up his side in the coming campaign.
Here we look at one Middlesbrough player who could surprise, one that may need to prove himself, and one that could struggle in the 2024/25 Championship season…
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Sonny Finch could surprise at Middlesbrough in 2024/25
One area of Boro’s squad that is currently weak ahead of their meeting with Swansea City is right-wing.
Marcus Forss is still recovering from an injury picked up in 2023/24 and will miss the start of the new season.
This leaves Isaiah Jones as Boro’s only senior option on that flank currently. However, academy star Sonny Finch could step up to replace Forss.
The 18-year-old has shone for the Teessiders at youth level and impressed during their 2024 pre-season.
Carrick played Finch out of position on the right-wing and he put in a number of stellar performances.
With Jones often inconsistent and Forss sidelined, Finch could make the right-wing spot his own in 2024/25.
Alex Gilbert needs to prove himself at Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough signed Alex Gilbert from Brentford’s B team in the summer of 2023.
The 22-year-old struggled for regular minutes during his first season in the North East, making just 12 appearances.
Gilbert did not complete 90 minutes once in said games and was not handed a start until the final two matches of 2023/24.
Finn Azaz joined Boro in the January window and has become the club’s primary number 10.
The arrival of Delano Burgzorg and Riley McGree signing a new contract means minutes are likely to be hard to come by for Gilbert in 2024/25.
In turn, whatever chances he is afforded by Carrick this season, Gilbert must take and finally show why he deserves a place in the eleven.
Josh Coburn may struggle to make an impact at Middlesbrough in 2024/25
Josh Coburn has shown patches of quality since breaking into the Boro first-team but his previous season was marred by injury issues.
Now he has returned to full fitness, Coburn will have been hoping to properly rival Emmanuel Latte Lath in 2024/25.
However, Middlesbrough are close to signing Tommy Conway from Bristol City for £5m.
Burgzorg can also be used as a centre-forward, meaning Coburn will likely be third-choice striker at best going forward.
A loan move for the academy product would have made sense this summer, but Carrick confirmed Coburn will stay at Middlesbrough this month.
That decision seems quite strange given the impending arrival of Conway, with Coburn’s minutes likely to be reduced even further than they were last term.