Middlesbrough brought in two new players in the transfer window, with John Obi Mikel arriving on a six month deal, and Rajiv van La Parra joining on loan from Huddersfield Town.
George Saville also made his loan deal permanent for a fee in the region of £8 million, signing from Millwall, meaning three players arrived at Middlesbrough this window.
However, many Middlesbrough fans remain downbeat about the club’s business, with plenty of other teams in and around them in the table having signed more players to improve their respected squads.
In his pre-match press conference ahead of the clash against West Brom on Saturday afternoon, Boro boss Tony Pulis spoke out about the window, stating the team is ‘weaker’ rather than ‘stronger’ after January.
“I’m disappointed. I think everybody around the club will be disappointed” he said.
“There are areas I’ve wanted to strengthen for 13 or 14 months and we’ve not been able to do that.
It’s been a window where in some respects it’s made the team weaker than stronger.”
Although the Welshman states he is disappointed in how the window went, he remained upbeat about the current squad of players at his disposal.
“I will have to say this about the squad, it’s fantastic.
“The group of players were ninth when I came in. When we got in the top six, from that period to today we’ve never been out.
Although Boro have signed three players, they have allowed 11 players to leave the club, with five of those departing on permanent deals, including captain Grant Leadbitter and prospect Harry Chapman who joined Sunderland and Blackburn respectively.
