A summer signing for Middlesbrough has been compared to a three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner.
Middlesbrough’s roster has already changed significantly during the summer transfer window of 2024, both on and off the pitch. Michael Carrick pledged his future to the club earlier this month by signing a new three-year contract, but he has lost a vital member of his staff.
Aaron Danks, Boro’s first-team coach, has left the club to work with former Burnley manager Vincent Kompany at Bayern Munich.
Meanwhile, former Manchester United winger Paddy McNair and goalkeeper Liam Roberts left the club after their contracts expired.
Meanwhile, the Reds signed Luke Ayling on a free transfer after impressing on loan with Leeds United in the second half of 2023/24.
Ayling’s departure was quickly followed by the Teessiders’ permanent signing of Delano Burgzorg from German club Mainz 05. Delano Burgzorg, likened to Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, joined Middlesbrough from Mainz but only played 17 games for the Bundesliga side. He spent 2023/24 on loan in the Championship with Huddersfield Town.
The 25-year-old appeared in 33 league games with the Terriers, scoring seven goals and assisting on three.
Now, speaking to Teesside Live, We Are Terriers’ Huddersfield Town correspondent Steven Chicken has shared an insight into what Burgzorg can bring to Boro in 2024/25.
Chicken was quick to highlight Burgzorg’s ability to run at people, as well as his skillful nature. He said: “The first thing you’ll notice is that he can be impossible to get off the ball once he’s on it. He’s big, strong and skilful, and loves to run at people.
“Defenders hate playing against him. At his best, Burgzorg came up with some superb goals that nobody else in that team would have had a prayer of scoring.”
The journalist went on to compare Middlesbrough’s latest signing to a lower-league version of three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner, Mohamed Salah. Chicken added: “At his best, I always saw him as being like a bit of a lower league Mo Salah, strictly in that he could offer nothing else for 90 minutes but if he scored a vital goal or two, you didn’t mind.
“It’s possible that playing in a better team might bring that out of him more often than we saw at Huddersfield.” How will Middlesbrough use Delano Burgzorg
Throughout his senior career to date, the Dutchman has primarily been used as a left-winger, scoring 18 goals and providing three assists from this position.
At present, Boro’s main left-wing options are Sam Silvera and Alex Gilbert, neither of which were able to match Burgzorg’s numbers in the 2023/24 campaign.
Silvera scored four and assisted two in 37 Championship outings, while Gilbert scored one and assisted three in 12, though he was used as a number 10 for the most part.
As a result, if Burgzorg can outperform Silvera in a Huddersfield team that was relegated last season, Carrick might consider making the wide player his primary left-winger in the coming season.
Burgzorg could potentially offer Middlesbrough with much-needed depth in the center.
Aside from Emmanuel Latte Lath, who scored 16 goals in 30 league appearances last season, Boro do not have any real quality depth at centre-forward.
So, because Burgzorg had previously played 64 games as a striker, Carrick may use his new addition to give insurance for Latte Lath when necessary.
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