Clear Middlesbrough transfer message issued on Van Den Berg, Hackney and Latte Lath | OneFootball

Middlesbrough's head of football Kieran Scott joined the Teessiders under the pretext of the club needing to rethink their transfer strategy.

The club had tried the splash the cash approach under Garry Monk, but his ill-fated summer of parachute payment-fuelled spending in 2017 financially set the club back years.

In the seasons that followed, Boro would to-and-fro from long-ball, direct football managers such as Tony Pulis and Neil Warnock, to attacking-minded and possession-based bosses such as Chris Wilder and Jonathan Woodgate respectively.

This chopping and changing meant players who were recruited to play in a certain system soon found themselves out of place, and resulted in scattergun transfer windows and the club lacking a concrete vision or identity.

Step forward Kieran Scott, whom since arriving at the Riverside Stadium in September 2021 from then Premier League side Norwich City, the club has been conducting some of its best and brightest business for a very long time.

Now, head coach Michael Carrick has a squad littered with high quality, sellable assets, but that doesn't mean that Scott is looking to cash some cheques on key players this summer.

Kieran Scott issues clear Middlesbrough transfer message

Scott conducted a recent interview with BBC Radio Tees Sport, in which he would speak bullishly on Boro's stance on selling players, as well as outlining where they are in terms of further additions.

Off the back of that, the Middlesbrough chief also spoke with The Northern Echo, and spoke specifically on some of the club's key players such as Rav van den Berg and Emmanuel Latte Lath.

Speaking on Boro's Dutch starlet Van Den Berg, Scott said: "Rav is really happy. I think Rav stays another year minimum.

"If he has another season where he's fantastic and we go up, I think he stays again. If he has a great season and we don't then we might have a problem. But he's part of it. He's a smart boy, a bright kid."

As for Boro's Ivorian talisman Emmanuel Latte Lath, Scott acknowledged that interest will come for the 25-year-old, but the message remains the same.

"We're going to end off fighting off a lot of clubs to keep him," Scott said.

"He isn't for sale. We don't want to let him go.

"Steve is really bullish about keeping our best players. We know we can't aim for promotion and then let our best centre-forward go.

"The form he was in, Azaz is starting to pick him out, Ayling is picking him out. We took a risk, £4.2m for a kid playing in Switzerland is quite a gamble. We took it, it paid off."

Middlesbrough can't afford to let their star players go this summer

Middlesbrough ended last season as one of the most in form sides in the Championship, as players began to flourish and the squad became healthier after a season riddled with injuries.

In a season of huge transition, that saw an overall overturn of players being comfortably over the 20 mark, to finish just four points outside the play-offs was a highly respectable achievement given that context.

The signs became evident that Carrick and his coaching staff were beginning to see the fruits of their labour, and now they appear to possess the makings of a squad that could be right there in the promotion mix next season.

But that's only if Middlesbrough can keep hold of their star players this summer. The club shouldn't be in much need to sell either, having sold Morgan Rogers to Aston Villa in January in a deal worth up to £16 million.

Therefore, Scott's 'not for sale' message should be adhered to at all costs over the coming weeks and months, as he looks to provide Carrick with the best possible chance of winning Premier League promotion next season.