"It'd be a shame" - Claim made on Anfernee Dijksteel's Middlesbrough situation amid previous Millwall transfer talk | OneFootball

Anfernee Dijksteel's Boro deal is up this summer, with the Surinamian's future well and truly up in the air

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 do not have to make many decisions when it comes to expiring contracts this summer, with just two current players remaining whose deals will end in June.

One of those is that of veteran midfielder Jonny Howson, who will be looking to extend his time on Teesside into a ninth season at the ripe old age of 36 - 37 when the 2025-26 campaign comes around.

The other player whose future is up in the air is defender Anfernee Dijksteel, and last summer, due to the form of Luke Ayling at the back end of 2023-24 and his subsequent permanent arrival, you'd be forgiven for thinking that his time at the Riverside Stadium was done.

However, after a turn-around in game-time and performances for the Surinamian, could Boro end up offering the right-back an extension?

Michael Carrick comments on Anfernee Dijksteel's Middlesbrough future - clubs were interested in January

Having spent much of the first couple of months of the season on the bench for Boro, Dijksteel started the majority of games for Michael Carrick between the end of November and beginning of January 2025, in a run of fixtures that only ended due to injury.

The 28-year-old has been back in the starting 11 since mid-February and even found the back of the net against QPR recently in a 2-1 Boro win, and with 10 points picked up out of the last 5 matches, Dijksteel's return has been a successful one.

Despite this though, Carrick has confirmed that talks are yet to take place over Dijksteel's future in the north east.

"He’s played a lot this season and done a lot of good things. We’re really pleased with him," Carrick told The Northern Echo.

"There’s always thinking going on in terms of the future and planning for how we might want it to look.

"Decisions like that are part of that thinking. There isn’t a decision made on anything yet. But, as time goes on, that will get sorted out one way or the other.”

Anfernee Dijksteel wouldn't be a huge loss to Middlesbrough, but there should be lots of interest in him

It was claimed by The Northern Echo that Boro would have sanctioned a January exit for Dijksteel despite his recent game-time, but only if a replacement was secured.

Millwall were keen on the nine-cap Suriname international, but the deadline passed with Dijksteel still a Boro player, which has proven to be a smart call as he's impressed in recent weeks.

Despite this, FLW's Middlesbrough fan pundit Jasper Hudson believes it wouldn't be a massive loss if the ex-Charlton man were to exit this summer for nothing, even though he's performed admirably in recent times - and that some clubs would be silly to pass up on a chance to land an experienced Championship hand.

"Dijksteel's had a fairly good season for us - when he's played, it's looked probably some of the best football he's played in a Boro shirt," Jasper told FLW.

"Obviously Ayling's not been at the level, so while the expectation going into this one was that Dijksteel was going to be purely a backup and that this would be his last year when he runs out of contract.

"He has sort of made a case for himself, but if he doesn't sign a new deal, I don't think it's the end of the world.

"He's been a good player for Boro, a good servant for the club, it'd be a shame to lose him as I quite like the way he plays, his work ethic and I think he's done some good stuff this season.

"But if he were to move on, I don't think it's the end of the world. I think we need to bring in two new right-backs in the summer because Ayling's not at the level, but I don't think that's an impossible task.