Hellberg on more new signings at Middlesbrough as double deal draws close | OneFootball

Middlesbrough boss Kim Hellberg says that he is still hoping to get more players through the door in what has already been a busy summer at the Riverside.

Boro have agreed a deal to sign Tottenham Hotspur defender Ashley Phillips. The 21-year-old will be their second summer arrival from Spurs, after Will Lankshear already completed the switch. Although they are unlikely to make it a hat-trick, with Mikey Moore now expected to join FC Koln on loan.

They are also set to sign goalkeeper Radek Vítek from Manchester United.

“It’s not for me to tell you about it,” Hellberg answered on the Phillips deal, which has not yet been completed. “I’m just focussed on the game. We’ll see. There are better people to answer those questions than me.

“But there’s been a lot of players coming and I’m very happy with that. There’s a lot of young, talented players that we have signed.

“Every one of them is in the same profile. They want to come here to be better, to develop, they see this as a good club and that makes me very happy.

“I think you can see all the players we signed are 25 or younger, which means there is a lot of potential in them.”

There have been plenty of exits from the Riverside as well as incomings this summer. However, Hellberg feels his squad has improved since last season.

“We lost some good players,” admitted the Boro boss. “Hayden (Hackney), Dael (Fry), Tiggs (Targett), Browne, were of course four players that played a lot. Sammy (Silvera) and Gilly (Gilbert) too, so that is six of the 14 outfield players that played the most.

“But we’ve also got some very good, talented players in. So I think when we start the season we are going to be at a higher level.

“We have higher potential in the players that we have here and we’re going to have a stronger squad when we start the season.”

Despite a strong previous campaign, Boro ultimately came up short in the Championship play-off final. On the eve of the new season, with Hellberg’s side facing Wrexham in the Carabao Cup on Friday, the Boro boss has insisted that their eyes remain set on promotion.

The Swedish coach asserted: “From my point of view, I’m here for three and a half years and my aim is to get to the Premier League in that time. There is no hiding from that.

“We are getting closer and they have been doing a brilliant job to get the best squad possible for us.

“A lot of credit to the people above me, they’ve been doing a brilliant job. We’ll see if we add on some more, which we hopefully will.”