Breaking: Middlesbrough closing in on cut-price deal for ‘high-calibre’ £17k-a-week striker
Now that their season has come to an end, Middlesbrough will be starting to turn their attention to the summer transfer window.
Michael Carrick, the manager at The Riverside, has made it clear he is prepared to lead the team for another season, but he now needs to collaborate with the board to assemble a team that can advance.
Boro had a dismal season, finishing eighth in the Championship after finishing third the year before and losing in the play-off semi-final.
Nonetheless, the Teesside team deserves some respect for turning things around to finish just four points short of the play-offs, considering they lost their opening seven league games of the 2023–24 campaign.
It is likely to be another busy summer transfer window and Boro should prioritise a move for a Premier League striker who faces an uncertain future.
Middlesbrough should sign Kieffer Moore
The man in question is Kieffer Moore, a Wales international who played on loan at Ipswich Town during the second half of the season.
Before moving temporarily to Ipswich, the 31-year-old striker had not started a Premier League match under Andoni Iraola. He now finds himself low in the Bournemouth hierarchy, behind only Dominic Solanke and Enes Unal.
Given this, it appears probable that Moore will be looking for fresh pastures this summer and that his future does not lay with the Cherries.
According to Transfermarkt, the player who has scored 12 goals for Wales internationally created an impression at Ipswich, scoring seven goals in 18 Championship appearances.
Just a year after being second in League One, these goals enabled the team to gain an unexpected promotion to the Premier League.
Emmanuel Latte Lath is a very good center-forward for Middlesbrough. After scoring 16 goals in 30 league games during his rookie campaign, the Ivorian’s impact definitely increased.
Carrick, though, is probably going to look for another striker to relieve some of the 25-year-old’s workload.
Moore’s Bournemouth contract is expiring in just one year, so he might be available for a steep discount.
It might be a deal that works for everyone involved because the player himself is probably going to jump at the chance to play football on a regular basis again in the Championship.
Moore guarantees Championship goals
Moore, who is exceptionally strong aerially, is a genuine focal point of the attack and a very different kind of striker than Latte Lath.
Following George Hirst’s injury, Kieran McKenna, the manager of Ipswich Town, remarked of Moore upon his arrival: “He’s a really experienced, high-calibre player, the profile of striker we felt we really needed to add to the squad.”
Although Moore played a significant role under McKenna in the promotion run-in, it appears that Ipswich may not pursue a permanent deal with the striker this summer given that Moore was largely signed as Hirst’s injury cover.
Boro now has an opening, and Moore has a strong goal record in the Championship.
In 173 Championship games, Moore has netted 54 goals and supplied 15 assists for teams in England’s second division, including Cardiff, Bournemouth, Ipswich, Wigan, and Barnsley.
With 20 league goals in 42 games, the 2020–21 season was his most productive for Cardiff.
Boro’s prospects of being promoted will be greatly increased if they can sign Moore to a contract.
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