Ex-Huddersfield Town star must be eyeing Middlesbrough exit - He's costing Boro a fortune | OneFootball

The Boro forward doesn't appear to be in Rob Edwards' plans moving forward, and must have one eye on the Riverside door.

Middlesbrough's Delano Burgzorg must surely have one eye on the Riverside Stadium door, as he struggles to cement a meaningful role under Rob Edwards.

One of the key reasons why Middlesbrough are finding newfound success both on and off the pitch in recent times has been down to the work of their recruitment team.

It was a department of the club that once lacked a clear philosophy and strategy, but now under the stewardship of head of football Kieran Scott, and head of recruitment Chris Jones, Boro are reaping the rewards of largely superb transfer business over the last few years.

The purchases and subsequent big-money sales of players such as Finn Azaz, Morgan Rogers, Rav van den Berg and Emmanuel Latte Lath respectively, are some of the shining examples of the club's excellent work in this fundamentally vital area of the club.

However, even the top batsmen can't hit sixes from every single delivery, and Middlesbrough are no different when it comes to the players they sign, with some ultimately destined to not pan out the way they planned.

Delano Burgzorg is surely heading towards Middlesbrough exit - Boro can't afford to keep him on his current production

Delano Burgzorg cuts a divisive figure on Teesside.

Signed from German side Mainz in the summer of 2024, you will struggle to find a Middlesbrough fan that will argue against the 26-year-old forward being one of the hardest-working players in the team.

The Dutchman works extremely hard for the side, both in the attacking and defensive side of the game, always looking to make runs and create openings, whilst never failing to track back and always gets stuck in.

As a result, it's for those reasons why many Boro fans do unquestionably hold an admiration for him, as especially for supporters of clubs like Middlesbrough, above all else, they just want to see those wearing their shirt giving 110 per cent every week, and Burgzorg is one of those players.

However, as admirable as his work-rate is, the quality and production levels in front of goal just haven't really been there on a consistent level since his arrival at the Riverside Stadium.

Indeed, he's a player that will have the crowd roaring after tracking back to rob an opposition player of possession, but then in the next breath, will elicit bellows of frustration that echo around the stadium with a misplaced pass, an uncomposed finish, or simply taking too long on the ball to make his mind up on what to do.

What's even more frustrating from a Middlesbrough perspective is that he's shown on numerous occasions that he's a very talented player, as he does have the ability to dribble past defenders, sit them down and fire the ball home.

But those moments are mostly fleeting, with the crux of the frustration being that the first two steps in that sequence are commonly seen from him, but it's that last piece of decision-making or clinicalness that too often seems to evade him.

With just seven goals to his name in 51 total appearances ahead of Boro's clash with Ipswich Town on Friday night, the production to match his reported £20k-a-week wage packet (as per Capology's estimates) just doesn't appear to make much financial sense to keep hold of him in his current form.

Burgzorg's Middlesbrough minutes only look set to further decrease under Rob Edwards

The appointment of Edwards has seen Middlesbrough largely change from their routine 4-2-3-1 system under Michael Carrick, to a 3-4-2-1 approach with wing-backs instead of wingers.

Indeed, it has been from the wing that Burgzorg had seen the majority of his minutes arrive under the former Boro boss, and with Edwards now employing a system that accommodates wing-backs and two attacking midfielders as opposed to wingers, the ex-Huddersfield Town star doesn't appear to have an obvious fit in the team anymore.

That's been reflected in his game time so far this season too, as he's only made six Championship appearances with just one of those being as part of the starting XI, and has a total of just 150 minutes of second tier action under his belt heading into matchday 10.

On top of that, Boro were also extremely active in the summer transfer market, and especially in their forward ranks.

David Strelec, Kaly Sene, Sverre Nypan and Sontje Hansen all arrived through the door, with the former two being strikers by trade, and the latter pair being recruited to play in those attacking midfield roles.

That's not taking into account that Middlesbrough's squad still has the likes of Riley McGree, Tommy Conway, Morgan Whittaker, Alex Gilbert, Micah Hamilton and Hayden Hackney respectively, who can all operate in at least one, if not both of those attacking midfield and centre-forward positions.

Therefore, the road to regular game time on Teesside for Burgzorg looks long and winding, with many sizeable obstacles in his way that he will have a very tough time overcoming.

Taking all of the aforementioned elements into account, and especially given that he is understood to be among Middlesbrough's top earners this season, then at 26 and in the prime of his career, Burgzorg will surely have one eye on a Riverside escape route in the near future.