Middlesbrough endured a tough end to the winter transfer window, failing to bring in anyone on deadline day.
Middlesbrough managed to sign three players in total last month; Luke Ayling, Luke Thomas, and Finn Azaz.
They’re three good signings and they certainly improve and bolster the Boro side. But the club desperately needed a striker last month and they failed to bring one in.
And that coincided with the late sale of Morgan Rogers to Aston Villa in a deal worth a reported £16million.
Speaking exclusively to Boro.news, transfer expert and Middlesbrough fan Graeme Bailey gave his verdict on the Rogers sale, saying:
“Middlesbrough will be very disappointed not to have brought another forward into the club – after Morgan Rogers left. They wanted a striker even before he went. Villa made their first move for Rogers mid-way through January and the player made it clear from the outset that he wanted to join Villa – everyone knew it was happening.”
Bailey also revealed that Middlesbrough had a few attackers on their transfer radar up until the window shut, adding:
“I understand Boro tried for a number of players on deadline day but came up short. The club’s hierarchy have let Michael Carrick and the fans down. This Boro squad are not far off the play-offs but now they have a huge task on their hands.”
Middlesbrough currently sit in 11th place of the Championship table and go up against Sunderland in 7th tomorrow, with a win able to bring Boro level on points with their north-east rivals.
But Carrick’s side certainly face an uphill battle in the second half of the season after failing to find a striker in the winter transfer window.
Bailey continued:
“Everyone around them brought in players, everyone around them bolstered their ranks. Yes the arrival of Luke Thomas and Luke Ayling does help, it makes them stronger – but they just don’t look to have the firepower in depth. Josh Coburn has ran his socks of for the club, and he has the potential to be a top striker but he is not there yet, Emmanuel Latte-Lath is injured but showed glimpses but it is clear Carrick wanted more options even if those two were ready to go.
“It will be interesting to see what Boro do against Sunderland, we could see Azaz or Crooks play up-front, which just shows where they are…the easy thing to do would be to play Marcus Forss, the best striker at the club, as a striker rather than out-wide as he normally does.”
Middlesbrough remain dark horses in race for top six
Middlesbrough remain in the race for the play-offs and under Carrick, although consistency is an issue and now a lack of a striker, they remain a threat to any team in the league.
But Boro now seem to be paying for their mistakes in the transfer market last summer, with the obvious one being a lack of a Chuba Akpom replacement.
Latte Lath obviously came in and Sam Greenwood was also brought in to replace the attacking output lost when Akpom left, but neither are going to score the same kind of goals that Akpom did.
And now with Latte Lath injured and Boro failing to find another striker on deadline day, Carrick and co look set to pay the price unless they can go on an unexpectedly strong run of form in the second half of the season.
Like Bailey says, Carrick and the fans may feel let down by the club, and once again it seems like a waiting game until the summer transfer reopens.