£15m claim made about Middlesbrough star as Hull City deal nears | OneFootball

Despite the imminent arrival of Hull City's Alfie Jones, alarm bells at Middlesbrough aren't currently ringing over Rav Van den Berg's future.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Middlesbrough are closing in on the signing of Hull City centre-back Alfie Jones, which may have raised eyebrows over the immediate future of current Boro defender Rav van den Berg.

The Hull defender played 41 times in the Championship last season, but is now reportedly closing in on a £2m switch to Championship rivals Middlesbrough, as the Tigers look to solve their ongoing financial troubles.

On Teesside, where Jones is expected to be heading, the future of star defender Van den Berg is up in the air, as Sky Sports suggested that Bundesliga sides Stuttgart, Wolfsburg and Werder Bremen are interested in him, with Brentford and Fulham also lurking.

With the arrival of Jones from Hull seemingly imminent, some Boro supporters might feel concerned about the future of the Dutchman, but it remains unclear if he will be a replacement, or simply an extra option in Rob Edwards' defensive unit.

Middlesbrough needing to add Championship experience to their squad

In the wake of the news of Jones' progressing move from the KCOM Stadium to the Riverside Stadium, Football League World spoke to their resident Middlesbrough fan pundit, Phil Auton, quizzing him on what he thought of the new addition, and whether this arrival was a surprise.

"I don't know a lot about him [Jones], to be honest," Auton told us.

"I probably have concerns that Hull were down the bottom of the league, but [I] saw the previous year with Jacob Greaves, they had some quality centre-backs, so he may have been down the pecking order a bit.

"[Jones has] plenty of experience, which is what we need. I think we need to move towards proven Championship players, probably very similar to Manchester United moving to sign experienced players in the Premier League, and moving away from the foreign unknown market."

No concerns over Van den Berg's future, despite imminent arrival

FLW also asked Phil if he believed the arrival of Jones could mean that some sort of progression in a deal that would see Van den Berg depart Middlesbrough had happened, but he remained confident that wasn't the case.

"I think apart from Hackney and Azaz, Van den Berg is the next biggest asset in terms of what would command for a fee," Auton said. "[He's] been with us for two years now, and when we signed him two years ago, the likes of Dortmund and Roma were sniffing around.

"Last season, I think his stock fell a little bit due to injuries, not so much form, but he's a great prospect and I would think you could command [a fee] between £15m [and] pushing £20m with add-ons. I would say £15m is more realistic.

"I think a centre-back is needed. We didn't address it in the January transfer window when we were crying out for one, so it's no surprise we've gone into the summer looking at that," Phil concluded.

The central defensive position was one that always needed strengthening in the summer for Boro, regardless of the future of their Dutch starlet, after the Teesside club opted not to strengthen at the back in January.

With that in mind, the latest developments regarding Jones' pending arrival at the Riverside Stadium shouldn't ring any alarm bells over the future of the 21-year-old just yet.