Middlesbrough allowed three first-team defenders to leave the club at the end of their contracts, with Sol Bamba, Lee Peltier, and Neil Taylor all leaving the Riverside at the start of this month.
Middlesbrough manager Chris Wilder made Neil Taylor his first signing after taking the reins, opting for experience whilst first-choice left-back Marc Bola was out with an injury.
Taylor played 17 times for Boro in all competitions, helping the club to a seventh placed Championship finish and a FA Cup run to the quarter-finals.
He started in the victories over both Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, as well as in the quarter-final defeat to eventual runners-up Chelsea.
With the 33-year-old having played his last game for Middlesbrough he is now a free agent and will be able to join another club for no transfer fee.
Given his age no one would be surprised to see him hang up his boots. Yet speaking to Sky Sports news (14/06/22 at 14:37pm), he has stated he wishes to continue.
“I want to play on for one or two more years still,” said Taylor.
“I couldn’t tell you where, there is no exclusive, but I want to keep playing.”
Who has been linked to Neil Taylor?
Since leaving Boro, the Welshman has been interesting several clubs, all of which are overseas.
According to The Sun, four clubs are said to be keen with Indian Super league duo ATK Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, Azerbaijan side FC Baku and Istanbul Basaksehir of the Turkish Super League all monitoring the defender.
Comment
He was quite hit-and-miss at Middlesbrough, having very strong showings on occasion but he was equally capable of an off-day or a mistake.
Taylor can do it for a Championship club still, but Boro’s wing-back system didn’t really play to his strengths, and he would be far more comfortable in a back-four.
