A former Middlesbrough player has shared his reasons for leaving the club and expressed regret over his decision.
Middlesbrough is having a stellar 2024 summer transfer window.
They’ve already signed three players: Aidan Morris, Luke Ayling, and Delano Burgzorg.
With the support of Steve Gibson, Kieran Scott, and Michael Carrick have been diligently working behind the scenes to complete most of Boro’s transfer business early.
This strategy aims to give the club the best chance of making a promotion push in the 2024/25 Championship season, starting on August 10th.
Since Scott became Middlesbrough’s sporting director, the club has made prudent recruitment choices.
However, Boro fans know that hasn’t always been the case, with one particularly wasteful transfer window in the past.
Backed by Premier League parachute payments, the Teessiders spent nearly £50m in the summer of 2017, aiming for a quick return to the top flight.
Unfortunately, most of those signings did not pan out, with Jonny Howson being the only remaining player from that spending spree.
Ashley Fletcher opens up on decision to leave Middlesbrough
Ashley Fletcher, a West Ham United player, was one of the players brought in that summer.
Although Fletcher was a bright young prospect at the time, his career did not pan out. He is now 28 years old.
In the first half of 2017/18, he only played ninety minutes once. He was then loaned to Sunderland for the balance of the season.
Fletcher ultimately decided to leave Middlesbrough permanently to join Watford, and he has since talked about his decision to do so, according to the Yorkshire Post.
“You look back sometimes at the decisions you’ve made. I could have signed a new contract and stayed at Middlesbrough, and things could have turned out differently,” he remarked.
“It goes without saying that I was given the chance to play in the Premier League; I doubt any player would refuse that.”
While looking back is a beautiful thing, I’m currently entirely focused on the future. This is a new chapter in my life because I recently got married, had a child, and am now a responsible adult. I’m eager to return and perform to the best of my abilities.
Middlesbrough must keep hold of key players this summer
Since Middlesbrough’s return to the Championship, their supporters have become accustomed to the club losing players to Premier League clubs.
Key players of the North East outfit’s setup, such as Ben Gibson, Adama Traore, and Patrick Bamford, all left for the top division.
Boro’s prospects of getting promoted were impeded by said sales, and they need to make sure they don’t repeat that error this summer.
The Teessiders need to make sure that Emmanuel Latte Lath, Hayden Hackney, and Rav van den Berg—three of the team’s best players from 2023–2024—remain at the Riverside on September 1st.
Middlesbrough went through a significant player turnover in the summer of 2023, but thus far this year, they appear to be averting another major player departure.
GET MORE NEWS ON LIFESTYLEROOM.NET
Leave a Reply