Middlesbrough manager Neil Warnock has stated he is looking to the Premier League loan market to rebuild his squad in an interview which appears in The Northern Echo.
Last summer Middlesbrough signed four players, three of whom had spent the previous season in League One. Marc Bola from Blackpool, Anfernee Dijksteel from Charlton, and West Ham’s Marcus Browne who had been out on loan at Oxford.
The former-League One trio didn’t make an impact in the first-team and all weren’t able to make the step up as comfortably as the Boro hierarchy and fans would have liked.
In January, their recruitment model changed, looking at the loan market from the division above. Middlesbrough brought in Manchester City duo Lukas Nmecha and Patrick Roberts, Sheffield United’s Ravel Morrison, and signed Harold Moukoudi from Saint-Etienne, also on a temporary six-month deal.
“We’ve identified three or maybe four lads in the Premier League that are very interesting in terms of maybe getting them on loan, but we’ve already been told on one of them, probably our number one choice, that they won’t be making a decision until after the 24th of August,” said Warnock.
“That’s obviously not ideal. It is nice to have your own players, but loans can be important.”
Boro have already signed free agent Grant Hall this window, following his release from Queens Park Rangers. Warnock has spoken explicitly about strengthening the spine of the team, as well as hoping to score more goals, and will likely be identifying targets to improve these areas.
