Michael Carrick was asked if he expected any new additions at Middlesbrough before their season opener against Swansea on Saturday. Michael Carrick said that Middlesbrough could add at least one new player before their new season begins next Saturday at home to Swansea City.
Speaking after Boro’s pre-season campaign ended with a 1-0 victory over Heerenveen at the Riverside, Carrick was typically reserved, but he did absolutely rule out adding to their three summer acquisitions thus far in the next seven days.
Following Luke Ayling’s formal re-signing, Delano Burgzorg and Aidan Morris joined, both of whom had successful pre-season performances. However, they are still searching to
add to their offensive options and remain in negotiations with Bristol City about Tommy Conway, while surgery on Alex Bangura’s Achilles injury may spur a move for a new left-back after conversations with Hull City about Ryan Giles this summer. Carrick asked, “Will anything happen before the start of the season? Honestly, I’m not sure. Maybe. Perhaps there is a remote probability. I believe we are rather peaceful. I’ve been saying that all summer. I thought (against Heerenveen), you saw the team and squad balance again.
“We’re not desperate for anything. It’s a good situation for us to be in, not having to do that. But that doesn’t prevent us from attempting to improve.
And make things better. It could be next week, or not. “We’ll have to wait and see.” Carrick asked, “Will anything happen before the start of the season? Honestly, I’m not sure. Maybe. Perhaps there is a remote probability. I believe we are rather peaceful. I’ve been saying that all summer. I thought (against Heerenveen), you saw the team and squad balance again.
“We’re not desperate for anything. It’s a good situation for us to be in, not having to do that. But that doesn’t stop us from striving to improve and make things better. It could be next week, or not. We’ll just have to wait.
See.” Another transfer scenario that Boro will keep an eye on is their goalkeeping department, since Jamie Jones has decided to join Salford City instead. Though they now have both Tom Glover and Sol Brynn as senior alternatives behind first-choice Seny Dieng, it is unclear whether Boro will wish to keep both, leaving Carrick with the tough task of keeping both happy without jeopardizing academy standout Brynn’s development.
When asked about the position again, after earlier saying he sees no reason to buy another keeper more suited to the third-choice post, Carrick said: “We’ve got three extremely strong goalkeepers that will push and test each other, just like the rest of the squad does. “I don’t believe it is any different from that. We’re lucky to have goalkeepers at various stages of development. Sol has been out on loan and returned, Tom has been here and gained valuable experience last year by playing some games, and Seny, as we all know, has played a lot of games for us. I believe we’re in a fantastic situation with three excellent goalkeepers.”
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