Rebuilding Middlesbrough
"Boro are not far away at all" – LouOrns on how he would 'rebuild' Middlesbrough to go one better in 2026/27.
This is the second piece in our Rebuilding series, looking at clubs with more work to do in the transfer market than most. After Ali Maxwell’s deep dive on Sheffield Wednesday, Lou McKenzie turns the focus to Middlesbrough.
If you like what we do at NTT20.COM, make sure you’re signed up for the summer — and for the season ahead.
Lou McKenzie
Middlesbrough weren’t far away last season, going off as favourites to win the Championship Play-Off Final. In the end, it wasn’t meant to be. But defeat to Hull at Wembley is in the past. Spygate has been and gone. Looking ahead to the 2026/27 season, Boro’s ambition will be to compete for the top spots again.
In Kim Hellberg, they have one of best Head Coaches in the league. The Swede has demonstrated what he can do with a squad that was, in my eyes, a little better than average. Now, imagine what he could do with top players?
It’s not all down to him. Recruitment is the realm of Kieran Scott, who has been at the forefront of so much at Boro since joining from Norwich in 2021, moving from Chief Scout to Head of Football. That role has involved streamlining the scouting department and other areas of the club – recruitment, playing style, academy football and first-team pathways. He’s also in charge of appointing other decision-makers, such as Chris Jones, who joined the club in 2022 as Head of Scouting but has since stepped up to become Head of Recruitment.
Recruitment timeline: 2021-26
Ralf Rangnick argued that recruitment is the most important aspect of running a football club, suggesting a 50% transfer success rate is the minimum required to achieve your aims. Transfer ‘hit rate’ can be measured in different ways, but here I’ve combined my own assessment with the views of respected Middlesbrough fans Dana Malt and Boropolis. By that measure, Kieran Scott’s overall hit rate sits at around 40% — something that will need to improve this season.
2021/22 (17 signings): Scott’s first summer was disappointing. Only Riley McGree, Matt Crooks, Sol Bamba and, at a push, Lee Peltier could be considered successful.
2022/23 (14 signings): A much stronger year. Chris Wilder made a positive start before his tenure unravelled, while Michael Carrick transformed Boro into one of the Championship’s best sides. Marcus Forss, Matt Clarke, Darragh Lenihan, Tommy Smith, Cameron Archer, Ryan Giles and Aaron Ramsey were hits, with Zack Steffen and Alex Mowatt also fulfilling their roles well. A 64% hit rate helped Boro to finish 4th and become the division’s best side on points after Carrick’s appointment.
2023/24 (15 signings): Following the departures of key players in Chuba Akpom and Matt Crooks, recruitment was mixed. Emmanuel Latte Lath, Morgan Rogers, Luke Ayling, Rav van den Berg and Finn Azaz were successes (and brought huge profits in some cases), while Sam Greenwood and Lewis O’Brien were serviceable. On the other hand, they signed three senior goalkeepers and ended up no closer to a solution. Around a 30-45% hit rate.
2024/25 (14 signings): Carrick’s final season brought another mixed window. Aidan Morris, Tommy Conway, Morgan Whittaker, Mark Travers, Ben Doak and Ayling (turning his loan permanent) made positive contributions, but when offset against the disappointing returns from Delano Burgzorg and Kelechi Iheanacho, among others, the overall hit rate was around 40-45%.
2025/26 (15 signings): Boro shifted from Carrick’s possession-based football to Rob Edwards’ more pragmatic style. Whatever you make of his exit or the performances, he won eight of his 16 games and delivered Boro’s best-ever start to a season.
After Edwards departed, Scott reverted to a Carrick-style appointment by hiring Kim Hellberg from Hammarby. Looking at both summer and winter windows, five signings can be judged successful: Adilson Malanda, Alfie Jones, Alan Browne, Matt Targett and Callum Brittain — a 33% hit rate.
By the end of the season, it was clear Hellberg didn’t fully trust his subs’ bench. Despite regularly controlling matches and creating chances, Boro often lacked game-changing options. Links this week to Kyle Joseph and Oliver Skipp don’t seem, to me, obvious ceiling-raisers. So what does this summer’s window need to deliver, to take Boro to the next level?
