Middlesbrough head coach Tony Pulis has told the Teesside Gazette that Martin Braithwaite will return to the club next week following his World Cup exploits.
The 27-year-old striker signed for Middlesbrough last season from French side Toulouse for a fee believed to be around £9m but it is yet to work out for the Boro. When Pulis replaced Garry Monk as head coach, he decided to loan Braithwaite out to Bordeaux for the rest of the season where he would go on to score four goals in 14 appearances. This, however, was not enough to earn him a permanent deal at the French club.
Since then, he has been linked with a move away even though he is yet to return to Middlesbrough. He has instead been in Russia after being called up by Denmark to be part of their World Cup 2018 squad. He would make regular substitute appearances as they made it to the last sixteen of the World Cup before being knocked out on penalties by eventual finalists Croatia.
But next week Braithwaite will return to Middlesbrough and this may mean he has a chance of getting back into their first team. His head coach Pulis said: “Martin comes back the end of next week,”
“So we’ll assess that (situation) when he comes back and see where we are.”
“We will be pleased to get everybody back and raring to go.”
Middlesbrough’s next match will be a pre-season friendly against Accrington Stanley on the 21st July. This match will take place at the Wham Stadium.
