Middlesbrough ‘were close to getting’ Aston Villa man Keinan Davis on loan, prior to the striker joining Championship rivals Nottingham Forest, according to former boss Neil Warnock.
Middlesbrough parted company with Neil Warnock in November, replacing him with Chris Wilder. Since the changing of the guard, the Teessiders have been flying high, losing just one game under the new boss’ reign. They sit in seventh position and are one point outside of the play-off places.
But with goals at a premium under former boss Jonathan Woodgate, Warnock took over and looked to bring in firepower that following summer.
Patrick Roberts, Yannick Bolasie, Neeskens Kebano, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, and Duncan Watmore were all signed across the campaign.
At the start of this season, Warnock signed Uche Ikpeazu on a permanent deal from Wycombe Wanderers, and Andraz Sporar on loan from Sporting Lisbon.
But across these windows, Middlesbrough were monitoring Aston Villa forward Keinan Davis, with Warnock revealing that his former side were close to the player joining on loan.
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Not only that, but the veteran manager had been tracking him since his days in charge of Cardiff City.
He told TalkSPORT radio (12/01/2022 at 09:46am): “I’ve been trying to get him for five years. We nearly got him at Cardiff but Villa had an injury.
“Then we were close to getting him at Middlesbrough.
“He suits the Championship. He’s a hardworking lad and this could be the move he needs.”
He sealed the short-term loan move on New Years Day and made his debut against Arsenal in the FA Cup last weekend.
Nottingham Forest are only five points behind Middlesbrough as things stand and will have play-off hopes of their own. Davis will be hoping to have an instant impact when he makes his Championship debut against Millwall at the City Ground tomorrow afternoon.
