There might have been late drama surrounding Emmanuel Latte Lath, but that should not detract from what deserves to go down as one of Middlesbrough's best transfer windows for a very long time. The drama with Latte Lath saw the Boro striker initially not travel to Cardiff as planned on Friday with his team-mates. Boro had rejected a bid from Ipswich Town the day before and though described as 'respectful' throughout, Latte Lath was initially frustrated at not being allowed to make the move and didn't feel in the right headspace to make the trip for Saturday's game. Boro handled the drama by staying calm and maintaining their 'not for sale' stance before eventually convincing the Ivorian that his future remained on Teesside. He was able to later travel to South Wales alone to link up with his team-mates which is to the credit of the club's chiefs who, as well as negotiating that tricky situation, added two more players to the squad on the final day (Ben Doak and George Edmundson both on loan), to complete an incredible window for Boro.
It's no accident either. This kind of window has been in the making since Kieran Scott's arrival at the club three years ago, with a trusted lieutenant in Chris Jones later joining him and becoming the new head of recruitment. The pair have worked tirelessly since to change attitudes on Teesside and position Boro's squad for more focused and precise summers like this.
Realistically the main work started last summer when they signed 14 players to bring a new balance and future-proofing to the squad that had previously lacked. Though such a large-scale recruitment drive led to problems last term, it ultimately left Boro well-positioned coming into this summer.
A Fine-Tuned Approach
Given the strong end to last season, Boro were looking to fine-tune their squad rather than make wholesale changes. Luke Ayling rejoined quickly after his successful loan spell in a move that showed how flexible the club can be. Aidan Morris and Delano Burgzorg were in before the first pre-season friendly and have been able to make fast starts.
More patience was needed on Micah Hamilton and Tommy Conway - but in both Boro have added exciting young attacking talents who were highly sought after. Neto Borges was an example of how quickly Boro can react when they need to, thanks to the proactive work that goes on all year round by the scouting team. Another Brazilian rocking up at the Riverside will never not be exciting - and there are high hopes Borges can finally solve their problematic left-back role.
Timing is Everything
Timing has been quite an important factor in many of this summer's deals. While talent identification will of course remain the key remit of any scouting team, understanding the market and the opportune moment to strike is key too, particularly for a club like Boro as they seek maximum value in the market.
As well as a Borges deal working for them this summer after attempts last year to sign him, Conway was a great example of Boro recognising an opportunity and getting in there quickly to place themselves ahead of the many clubs that would later attempt to steal in on a deal. Morris, meanwhile, was a great example of the long game Boro can sometimes play on targets - with their scouting work and wooing of the player 18 months in the making.
Reacting Quickly to Opportunity
Again, reacting quickly to developments and proving their ability to sell the club to players, they beat numerous clubs to the loan signings of Edmundson and Doak on the final day of the window to take their summer additions up to eight. Edmundson arrives as a result of circumstance. Not really planned, they decided late that they wanted one more option at the back due to injuries.
As Michael Carrick often says, you have to stay open and ready for anything in an ever-changing world like football. The work Boro's recruitment team do allows them to be in a strong position to just that, though it never hurts to have connections in the game either. Edmundson comes from Carrick's close relationship with Kieran McKenna. Hamilton, in contrast, was helped by the fact that Neil Bausor has a really good relationship with Brian Marwood - a senior figure in the City Group.
Doak, meanwhile, was a regular in Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool squads before a bad knee injury last December. The Scottish starlet might need some time to regain himself after so long out, but it's fair to say there is huge excitement to be landing the 18-year-old. It's one that came quite out of the blue.
Boro keep a close eye on the academy sides of top clubs searching for stars of tomorrow. While ordinarily, they would prefer not to do loan deals, they've proven time and again their willingness to be flexible in the right moment. In the case of Doak, they simply had to move when they knew he was available. An exciting attacking talent, recruitment chief Jones went as far on social media to describe him as a 'potential game changer'.
Financial Constraints and Gibson's Backing
It was the loan fee received for Josh Coburn, who joined Millwall on deadline day, that ultimately freed up some extra funds to get Doak. That small loan fee was the only bit of money Boro recuperated on transfers this summer as owner Steve Gibson put his full backing behind Scott, Jones and Michael Carrick.
Such are the financial obscenities of the Championship now, even the big sales of the likes of Morgan Rogers, Chuba Akpom and Marcus Tavernier in recent years have not been enough to turn Boro into a money-making business. The latest financial figures released still showed a £6.7m loss - and that was considered widely across the league as a positive!
Gibson could have cashed in on Rav van den Berg, Hayden Hackney or Latte Lath this summer. All three had plenty of interest and the club took plenty of calls over the course, even before Ipswich's late disruptor. The Boro owner remained bullish in his stance on not selling and, for that, with the scale of the squad investment in mind, he deserves huge credit.
The Pressure is On
Will it all be enough to get Gibson and Boro where they want to be? In many ways the pressure is now on. Though Boro will want to play this down as much as possible, the aforementioned star trio are unlikely to give Boro another season after this one to realise their Premier League dreams.
There are no guarantees in football, sadly. But as far as the makeup of the summer transfer window is concerned, and the encapsulation of the changing ways and mindsets of the Boro way now and putting that all into practice, it's hard to pick much at all to be critical of. Carrick will always say the goal at the start of the transfer window is to leave it feeling stronger than you started. That's a resounding success by that parameter.
A Summer to Remember
Middlesbrough have undoubtedly assembled a squad capable of challenging for promotion. The key will be how they gel and perform as a unit. If their summer transfer window is anything to go by, the future looks bright for Boro.
