[NoSkillz]

Summer 2022- Transfer Window



Retirements

None



Transfers OUT

GK - Dillon Phillips - Hull - £115,000
DC - Nathan Wood - Southampton - £6,000,000 (£14.75m)
DC - Semi Ajayi - Crystal Palace - £3,100,000 (£3.8m)
DC - Jake Clarke-Salter - Nottingham Forest - £2,000,000
DR - Harold Essien - West Brom - £10,000
MR - Grant Ward - Aston Villa - £3,200,000 (£3.4m)
MR - Jota - Swindon Town - £1,900,000
ST - Saido Berahino - Reading - £50,000
ST - Martin Braithwaite - AEK - £2,100,000 (£2.6m)
ST - Luis Suarez - Ipswich - £4,700,000 (£5.75m)

Lots of action here...

Starting from the top and working our way down, we move out backup goalkeeper Dillon Phillips after only one year with the club and one single substitute appearance. I wasn't actively trying to sell him but Hull made an offer that I was fine with and we move on.

The sale that hurt the most during this transfer window was 20 year old DC hot prospect Nathan Wood. Southampton came calling and Wood basically forced me to make the deal with the Premier League squad. I probably could have fought harder on this one, especially since Wood was one of the top two or three prospects at the club but getting up to £14 million with clauses was too much to ignore. Wood is a home-grown prospect at Middlesbrough and played in 45 games over a four year period with the senior team, scoring twice and adding a single assist. This is a tough loss.

We also lost fellow DC Semi Ajayi to Crystal Palace a short time later. I had made a solid acquisition to replace Wood but Ajayi felt threatened by the new addition and asked to be moved. I wanted Ajayi to play alongside the new addition but I couldn't talk him down from his high horse so I moved him for £3.1 million plus clauses. Ajayi joined Middlesbrough back in 2019 for £2.4 million from Rotherham and played three full seasons for the club, playing in 78 games while contributing one goal and two assists. That's our top two central defenders gone...

We lose DC Jake Clarke-Salter and DR Harold Essien in separate deals. Clarke-Salter was injured the entire preseason so I was taken aback when offered £2 million for his services. That said, we had picked him up for £2.2 million from Chelsea back in 2020 but I don't see this as a big loss. He leaves after playing 24 senior team games with us over a two year period, contributing one assist. Essien is another home-grown prospect who was simply a surplus to requirements and leaves without ever having suited up for the senior team.

Grant Ward was a talented player but his inability to play in an attacking midfield position rendered him useless in my preferred setup so we moved him to Villa. Ward came up through the Tottenham system and had spells with Ipswich and Preston before coming to Boro in 2020 in a £3.7 million deal. We should recoup that full amount in this deal due to easily attainable clauses - Ward didn't produce much by the looks of it, playing 61 games for the club, scoring only 3 goals and adding 3 measly assists.

Like Ward, Jota was someone who excelled most in a non-attacking position in midfield so we turn a nice profit after scooping him up on a free from Birmingham last year. Jota played in 24 games last year, providing 4 assists but zero goals. See ya later...

We move the two veteran strikers as hoped, as Saido Berahino and Martin Braithwaite are moved to Reading and AEK respectively. It took some doing to get rid of Berahino and I had to eat some of his salary to move him - strikers who don't score goals aren't really in demand. Go figure. He spent just one year at Middlesbrough, scoring four goals in 31 games. Meanwhile, Braithwaite fetches a decent fee but not when you consider that the club paid a whopping £9 million for his services back in 2017 from Toulouse. It looks like he was a solid contributor for the club - he spent five years here, playing in 153 games and contributing 39 goals. However, he was on the wrong side of 30 and he was at best our third choice striker here.

Finally, we are forced to move another solid striker in Luis Suarez when Premier League club Ipswich come calling. We make a tiny profit after picking him up from Watford two years ago. He started alongside Andre Gray often in his two years here, playing in 72 games, scoring 19 goals and adding 3 assists. We'll look to find a capable replacement in the market to replace him.



RELEASED PLAYERS

GK - Aynsley Pears
DR - Ryan Shotton
MC - Alfie Payne
AML - Connor Malley
ST - Tyrone O'Neill

Not much to see here. Just clearing some expiring contracts out - none of these guys will be missed.



Transfers IN

GK - Peter Phillips (2.0/2.5) - Free - 18 years old, England
GK - Curtis Anderson (2.0/2.0) - Free - 21 years old, England
DC - Teden Mengi (2.5/3.0)- Free - 20 years old, England
DC - Jacob Bell (1.5/2.5) - Free - 19 years old, England
DC - Nathanael Ogbeta (2.0/3.0) - Free - 21 years old, England
DR - Dujon Sterling (2.5/4.0) - Free - 22 years old, England
DM - Tudor Baluta (3.5/4.0) - Free - 23 years old, Romania
MC - Joe Willock (3.0/4.5) - Free - 22 years old, England
MC - Hamza Choudhury (4.0/4.0) - Free - 24 years old, England
AMR - Dodi Lukebakio (3.0/4.0) - Free - 24 years old, Belgium

DC - Jonathan Panzo (3.5/4.0) - £1,800,000 (From Monaco) - 21 years old, England
DR - Ethan Laird (3.5/4.0) - £175,000 (From Manchester United) - 20 years old, England
AMR - Rabbi Matondo (3.0/4.0) - £350,000 (From Manchester City) - 21 years old, Wales
ST - Eddie Nketiah (3.5/4.0) - £3,900,000 (From Arsenal) - 23 years old, England

We are very tidy and efficient in the transfer market, making a number of key signings on a free while being smart about our cash outlays as well.

Phillips will play goal with our U18 side while Anderson is just a depth pickup and likely to head out on loan. At DC, I'm most excited by Teden Mengi, who came up through Man United's youth system but was just released. He's got size and speed and while raw, he will definitely be one to watch this year. Nathanael Ogbeta, formerly part of Man City's youth setup, is solid as well and I can see him contributing this year as a depth piece while Jacob Bell is added depth and a likely loan candidate. Dujon Sterling, just released from Chelsea, is a pacy and very versatile piece who can play up and down the entire right side.

At DM, I was thrilled to add Romanian international Tudor Baluta, who had just been released by Watford. He should provide competition with incumbent Mathias Normann in our deep-lying playmaker role. The two biggest free pickups are central mids Joe Willock and Hamza Choudhury. Willock, who wasn't resigned by Arsenal after coming up through their youth program, is a natural advanced playmaker but looks like he can adapt to the Mezzala role that I like to employ. Choudhury is a major find - he's got Premier League experience after spending his entire career with Leicester and he's versatile enough to play both the box-to-box role or even the Mezzala role if necessary. Finally, we pick up imposing right winger Dodi Lukebakio on a free after he was released by Watford. This 6'2" forward also has Premier League experience and should at least form part of a rotation this coming season.

We do very well with our cash outlays, as all four of these players were transfer listed by request, likely due to being blocked at their respective positions with their senior teams. Jonathan Panzo is an exciting addition - he came up through the Chelsea academy and moved to Monaco in 2018 for £2.7 million. He spent a couple of seasons at Fulham on loan and recently spent a little bit of time with the Monaco senior team but mostly was part of their reserves last year, which obviously opened up this opportunity for me to get him cheaply. He's 6'2", has excellent pace and is a natural ball playing defender and will be the odds on favourite to be a starter for us right out of the gates. Right fullback Ethan Laird was blocked at Man United and we get him for a pittance. He's a bit raw and may need time to develop at only 20 years of age but he's got great potential. Rabbi Matando is another very pacy but extremely raw prospect - he was frozen out at Man City and we get him for practically nothing - I expect him to work a rotation with Lukebakio at AMR this season. Honestly, I tried to get a more influential player for the right side but failed so we'll be forced to go with the two youngsters this year.

Finally, I splashed some cash to bring in exciting striker Eddie Nketiah from Arsenal. He's more of a natural advanced forward and on the small side so he's not the greatest fit for our pressing system but he looks like he can grow into the role. With last year's leading scorer Andre Gray returning, I can afford to let Nketiah slow cook a bit.

I think we were very effective in the transfer market, doing exceptionally well despite a limited budget. We still had a couple of holes that I'd look to fill in the loan market.



Loans OUT

DC - Teden Mengi - Chesterfield - £5000/month
DR - Matthew Gibbins - Sheffield United - £5000/month

GK - Sol Brynn - Dundee - Free
GK - John Turton - Forest Green - Free
GK - Curtis Anderson - Ebbsfleet - Free
DL - Terry Stephenson - Tranmere - Free
DC - Aron Ekpiteta - Forest Green - Free
DC - Andrew Wilson - Gillingham - Free
DC - Nicholas Hood - Torquay - Free
DC - Jacob Bell - Swindon - Free
DR - David Hale - Barrow - Free
DR - Djed Spence - Torquay - Free
MC - Kian Spence - Exeter - Free
MC - Isiah Cornet - Blackpool - Free
MC - Adam Miles - Torquay - Free
MC - Isaac Fletcher - Notts County - Free
MC - Tim Liddle-Campbell - Ebbsfleet - Free
MC - Hayden Hackney - Blackpool - Free
MC - Hussein Pirbhai - Colchester - Free
MC - Ben Stephenson - Crewe - Free
MC - Cain Sykes - Boreham Wood - Free
AMR - Joe Gibson - Leyton Orient - Free
ST - Alberto Balde - Leyton Orient - Free
ST - Jay O'Brien - Hull - Free
ST - Ben Appleby - Crewe - Free
ST - Gabby McGill - Tranmere - Free
ST - Stephen Walker - Oxford - Free

Most teams would keep the majority of their depth around for the U23 team but I'd prefer to have these guys get regular first-team minutes in hopes of developing. All of these players have their wages covered by the loaning team so that was helpful, even though I'm currently well under my wage budget.

The big prospects out on loan include Mengi, Gibbins, Pirbhai, Ben Stephenson, O'Brien and Appleby.



Loans IN

GK - David Burton (2.5/2.5) - £4,800/week (From Brighton) - 33 years old, England
DL - Joel Lopez (3.0/4.0) - £1,900/week (From Arsenal) - 20 years old, Spain
DR - Aron Potts (3.5/4.0) - £800/week (From Newcastle) - 18 years old, England
AML - Angel Gomes (3.5/3.5) - £6,750/week (From Manchester United) - 21 years old, England
ST - Mason Greenwood (3.5/4.0) - £10,000/week (From Manchester United) - 20 years old, England

We dabble in the loan market to add to our quality and depth. David Burton was essentially a panic addition - I had been trying for weeks to bring in a really strong looking young goalkeeper on a transfer deal with Chelsea but when I finally got down to negotiating personal terms, he was looking for way more money than I was prepared to hand out. Hopefully we don't have to use him too often! The other four players will get the chance to play on a rotation basis throughout the season. Lopez adds a youth element to the left side of our defense, which was sorely needed. Potts returns for a second consecutive season on loan from Newcastle and my plan is to rotate him with newcomer Ethan Laird. Gomes is a versatile piece whose natural position is AMC (a position I don't utilize in my main formation) but he's equally adept at AML and is accomplished in central midfield as well. Finally, we are able to secure the services of exciting forward prospect Mason Greenwood from Man United - he will rotate in at striker along with incumbent Andre Gray and new signing Eddie Nketiah. Greenwood also can play AMR, which could be helpful.



Final Thoughts Before the Season Begins

We had a challenging and very condensed pre-season due to the fact that 2022 is a World Cup year. Preseason essentially started about two weeks earlier than usual and that also meant our regular season was starting in mid-July as opposed to the normal start date of early August. I also had a bit of a skeleton staff to start the season - before I was hired, I was given the chance to bring some Morecambe staff members with me but at the time, I guess I promised that once I was done with my changes, that I wouldn't add to my backroom staff until after the new year. A minor nuisance for sure.

We were able to get eight friendlies set up and we did well in going 6-1-1, with a 2-2 draw against Scottish Premiership side Rangers and a 2-1 loss to Manchester United our only non-wins. The most shocking preseason result saw us embarrass Anderlecht 8-1 here at Riverside Stadium!

Similar to when I first got started with Morecambe two years ago, it took some time for me to find my way within a veteran dressing room. Some of my player sales did not go over well with the vets and the new, younger additions to the squad caused many to feel that their places were being threatened. As indicated above, I'd eventually lose Semi Ajayi because of this and I had another unhappy central defender in the towering Aden Flint, who was most worried about his spot being taken by Jonathan Panzo. He was right to be worried but when Ajayi was sold, I'd be forced to put the sluggish but well-tenured DC into the lineup right alongside his counterpart.

The lads seemed to adapt well to my 4-1-4-1 DM formation so my plan was to move forward with that once again. I maintained the same leadership group as my predecessor, with Flint keeping the captain's armband and left fullback George Friend being named vice-captain.

The media felt we'd finish just ouside the playoff spots in 7th place while our board hoped for a mid-table finish. I went along with them but deep down, I feel we can challenge for promotion this year and my goal is a top-two finish that would see us avoid the playoffs altogether and get the auto-promotion up to the Premier League.

Our season begins on the road, as we travel to face Cardiff in my first official game as manager of Middlesbrough. We had a seriously condensed schedule early on, with three games in our first week so I elected to go with a veteran squad for our first game and heavily rotate throughout the first week. We also had numerous injuries throughout the preseason and were especially shorthanded at striker, as both Mason Greenwood and Eddie Nketiah were on the shelf, requiring us to put transfer listed Saido Berahino on the bench. At this point, we also still had Ajayi on the squad so he was part of our opening day starting eleven, which you can see right here:

GK - Darren Randolph
D - George Friend - Diego Polenta - Semi Ajayi - Ethan Laird
DM - Mathias Normann
M - Adam Clayton - George Saville
AM -Bartosz Kapustka - Rabbi Matondo
ST - Andre Gray

BENCH: Joe Bennett, Jonathan Panzo, Dujon Sterling, Hamza Choudhury, Joe Willock, Dodi Lukebakio, Saido Berahino