Middlesbrough are still looking for defenders at the club with Garry Monk keen to ensure his back line remains solid all season in what could be another promotion year at the Riverside.
A move for Birmingham City centre-back Ryan Shotton has been delayed for a while now with Harry Redknapp determined to find a replacement before allowing him to leave. The 28-year-old joined the Blues last year and for the past couple of weeks, he has been Boro’s top transfer target.
Although all the right noises are being made about keeping hold of their star man, Garry Monk and the board must be professional and think about life after Ben Gibson and I’m sure they are.
Given that they are in the Championship, they do not need (nor could they) to think about a £10million Premier League centre-back to replace him directly. Instead, a defender with potential and some knowledge of this league would be ideal and this is why they are interested in bringing in Shotton.
Last year was his proper breakthrough season in this league, playing 43 times for the Blues and doing very well in a struggling team. He is 28 now, which, for a centre-back, is not old, and in fact, he is only just about to reach his peak.
Since being relegated, Boro have lost the services of several players, which was expected, including Marten de Roon. He may be a miss, however, he wasn’t at the club for long and they were hardly in a position of relying on him for results.
Leavers such as Jordan Rhodes, Viktor Fischer and Bernardo Espinosa can hardly be considered as huge misses and have been replaced on the payroll by the likes of Britt Assombalonga, Martin Braithwaite, Ashley Fletcher, Jonny Howson, Darren Randolph, Cyrus Christie and Lewis Baker.
I would argue, in fact, I would insist, that Middlesbrough have a better team now than the one they had going into their Premier League season this time last year, and that simply cannot be a bad thing. They have a better squad than a number of current Premier League sides too, so signing Shotton would be the icing on the cake.
Even with Gibson out of the way, the signing of Shotton would complete a very, very satisfactory summer for the Boro and if they take the shackles off somewhat, they could be quite a force in this division as the season goes on.
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