Middlesbrough are interested in signing out-of-contract Blackburn Rovers defender Darragh Lenihan this summer according to reports.
Middlesbrough have allowed three first-team defenders to leave the club this summer, with Sol Bamba, Lee Peltier, and Neil Taylor all moving on after short stints at the Riverside.
Both Bamba and Peltier have filled in at centre-back when injuries or suspensions have cropped up. But manager Chris Wilder is looking for more solid options to rotate when needed.
At present, the go-to trio in the three-man defence are Anfernee Dijksteel, Dael Fry, and Paddy McNair. Whilst they also have Grant Hall and Nathan Wood in reserve.
Yet if Blackburn Rovers’ Darragh Lenihan was to sign on a free transfer in the coming months, this could give Wilder a selection headache.
Where would Lenihan fit into the Middlesbrough starting XI?
The aforementioned trio would be disrupted if the Blackburn Rovers man signed, with Dijksteel the most likely to drop out.
Dijksteel, Fry, and McNair have been solid this past season, but the Dutchman could be rotated with the two-time Republic of Ireland international.
What would the starting XI look like?
GK – Luke Daniels
RWB – Isaiah Jones
CB – Darragh Lenihan
CB – Dael Fry
CB – Paddy McNair
LWB – Marcus Tavernier
CM – Jonny Howson
CM – Riley McGree
CM – Matt Crooks
ST – Duncan Watmore
ST – Josh Coburn
This starting XI is certainly going to have some alterations, especially considering Wilder’s transfer priorities of a new striker and a new goalkeeper and so Daniels and Coburn would be replaced with new signings in the list above.
Lenihan’s arrival does give Wilder another option and so the Irishman, Fry, McNair, Dijksteel, Hall, and Wood could all be rotated week to week.
