Bristol City told to seal 'brilliant' Middlesbrough transfer | OneFootball

FLW's Robins fan pundit is more than open to Neto Borges making his move from Middlesbrough permanent at the end of his season-long loan spell

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…

With Cam Pring missing large parts of the opening stages of the campaign, Neto Borges has been a more than useful loan signing for Bristol City so far this season.

The Brazilian wing-back wasn't utilised much through the first month of the Championship campaign at Middlesbrough under Rob Edwards, before he made the switch to Ashton Gate on deadline day in September.

With right-sided wing-back Ross McCrorie and attacking wideman Yu Hirakawa being makeshift left wing-backs for Gerhard Struber through the opening month of the season, Borges was thrown in as soon as he was up to speed, and he's looked right at home in the Austrian manager's system off the left.

Borges has started 11 of the last 14 Championship outings, contributing two assists, and, according to an interview he did with BBC Radio Bristol, he seems open to staying at Ashton Gate past the end of his season-long loan spell.

Tom Sandy, FLW's Bristol City fan pundit, is delighted with this news and hopes that the "fantastic" Brazilian does get the opportunity to sign a permanent deal come the summer.

Bristol City fan pundit reacts to Neto Borges' desires to remain at the club

With Pring only recently making his return from an ankle injury that he picked up in pre-season, Borges has been Gerhard Struber's main option on the left side throughout the campaign.

Sandy is intrigued to see how Pring performs as a wing-back in a more attacking system than the one under Liam Manning last season, but does believe that Borges fits what Struber needs from their position.

Therefore, he's happy that the 29-year-old is open to a permanent move to Ashton Gate at the end of the season.

"It would be brilliant for us, as he's been fantastic since he came in," the fan pundit said.

"He's a dynamic full-back, which is what we really needed, and I think he suits the position better than Pring does as an out-and-out full-back because he's far better going forward.

"It'll be interesting to see how Pring plays in Struber's system, but in Manning's, he struggled to get into the final third and struggled to get balls up the line.

"Neto Borges has had the benefits of playing under Struber, and I do think we play better football, especially going forward, so I think he's benefited from that, and I do think he's been brilliant."

With Pring sidelined at the start of the campaign, there were some worries that the Robins would struggle to operate to the best of their abilities. With McCrorie moving across, Sykes was covering there, and there weren't many ready to back them up in case of injury.

Borges initially came to provide depth, but over time, Sandy believes that the Brazilian has "won fans over," and a lot of those inside Ashton Gate would love to see him continue his spell at the club.

"It's a position we really needed depth for, especially in the opening stages of the season when McCrorie was on the left, and Sykes was on the right, and that's all we had — we did try Hirakawa there, which I didn't think was an experiment that went too badly, but I know a lot of City fans weren't too impressed with his defensive work," he explained.

"So yeah, if Borges were to join permanently, it'd be brilliant. He's definitely won the fans over, and he's been fantastic.

"His delivery of the ball into the box, especially in that assist against Portsmouth for Mehmeti, and the one for Riis against QPR, was brilliant, and it shows his ability going forward.

"I think he'll be really important for the team in the future."

Neto Borges would add to an already solid full-back position at Bristol City — but Middlesbrough may want him back under Kim Hellberg

There'd be no doubt that Borges would come in and enhance the already strong Bristol City full-back core if he were to join permanently, given that he'd be entering his traditional 'prime' years, and, above all, he's already shown his class at Ashton Gate this season.

However, the 29-year-old was allowed to leave due in part to Matt Targett's loan arrival at the Riverside, but also because Rob Edwards didn't see him as a first-choice wing-back in his system.

Now, under Kim Hellberg, not only do Middlesbrough play a more expansive, free-flowing attacking style, which would suit Borges, but he's also been forced to give minutes to forgotten man Alex Bangura, after injuries elsewhere forced Targett into centre-back for a few games, minutes which may have been given to the Brazilian under regular circumstances.

New managers will always want to assess players before making a final decision on their futures if they were on loan away from the club when they joined.