The Middlesbrough Gazette
Market11 Aug 2031
Elliot Anderson has said yes to Southampton
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Middlesbrough have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Transfer targets11 Aug 2031
Tammy Abraham turns down Middlesbrough
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Manchester United keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Market11 Aug 2031
Anthony Wright hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Middlesbrough can pretend not to have heard.
Market11 Aug 2031
Middlesbrough say no — this time
The offer from Oldham Athletic for Adilson Malanda was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Transfer targets11 Aug 2031
Door shut on Nathan Fraser
Middlesbrough asked and Burnley said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market11 Aug 2031
Marcus Forss has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Middlesbrough they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad11 Aug 2031
Leo Castledine in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Middlesbrough this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Aug 2031
A row about effort at Middlesbrough
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Evanilson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad11 Aug 2031
John Johnson is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
In brief
- Squad Middlesbrough count the cost of losing Adilson Malanda
- The dugout When it matters, Kyle Joseph plays
- Boardroom The Middlesbrough academy earns its keep