Kim Hellberg drops new Middlesbrough transfer update | OneFootball

The Middlesbrough boss has highlighted what he wants in his first summer window at the Riverside

Middlesbrough fell short in their promotion push last season. Ahead of Kim Hellberg's first full campaign, the focus at the Riverside is on addressing where things went wrong and plugging the gaps to stop it from happening again.

Boro were electric at times under the Swedish boss after he arrived in November to take over from Rob Edwards, and had them at the Championship's summit for a time in February.

After they reached the top spot, though, Middlesbrough would win just four of their last 15 league games, two of which came in the final three outings, as their automatic promotion hopes faded.

The poor form continued into the play-offs, as Kim Hellberg's side became the first, and likely only, team to lose both the semi-finals and the final, after they were reinstated following Southampton's expulsion due to being found guilty of illegally spying on Boro's training session before the semi-final meeting at the Riverside.

Throughout that patchy run, one of the main criticisms of Kim Hellberg's side was that, as games went on, the Swede's intense playstyle took its toll, and he lacked players with bags of energy at the top end of the pitch and the depth off the bench to maintain it across 90 minutes.

Kim Hellberg wants pace and depth at Middlesbrough this summer

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Hellberg has addressed those two points of concern already in the window, with Myles Peart-Harris arriving as Boro's first signing of the window, and Hull City's Kyle Joseph set to join him, after it was announced earlier this week that his move from the play-off winners is back on.

But, ultimately, that's far from everything that Middlesbrough need in the ongoing summer transfer window. The Boro boss feels that more players are needed, and outlined pace and depth as the main imperatives in the window.

"We need to take a step to make it a bigger squad," Hellberg told the Northern Echo. "Our squad wasn't deep enough last season; everyone saw that. I'm not hiding from that; I think that's common ground for everyone.

"That doesn't mean you have to sign 11 players; that can also be giving the young kids the preparation to get there.

"Then adding pace. I think everyone could see that in the final. The worst thing that happened to us was Tommy [Conway] didn't play. If there was one player you wouldn't take away from the final, it was Tommy.

"We need to have more than one player with that pace. I hope and think that the squad will be stronger as a unit when we start."

In an ideal world, more than one player would be confirmed through the door at this stage of the offseason, with the new campaign starting in just four weeks with the EFL Cup's first round, in which Boro host fellow Championship big-hitters Wrexham.

But a mixture of the World Cup taking place and the need to be patient has elongated things somewhat. Ultimately, Hellberg is confident he'll get what is needed and, in the meantime, is taking the time to have a look at some fringe players to see if they can step up this season.

"Of course, as a coach you'd love six or seven new players here straight away. But that rarely happens," he continued. "Sometimes they come a little bit later, and that's opened up opportunities for players who may not have had that opportunity.

"So I get to see five or six really good young players that I get to see training with us and give them the possibility to take that chance. It's the same for players coming back from loans. Good things can come of it.

"Of course we would like everyone standing here ready to go, but that's not the way it is."

Middlesbrough are in the midst of a very busy summer transfer window

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While adding depth is a must at Middlesbrough, Kim Hellberg is also having to contend with the losses of two starters and a couple of important squad players this summer, too, who will need to be replaced.

Teesiders Hayden Hackney and Dael Fry, the Championship's best player and club captain, respectively, both parted ways this summer, while Alan Browne and Matt Target both departed at the end of their loan spells.

All four played important parts in the Boro side last year, and their leaving will make their squad even thinner in the early stages of the ongoing pre-season.

With Hellberg at the helm, there'll be expectations that Middlesbrough will be amongst the frontrunners in the Championship in the upcoming campaign, but he'll need the resources to be able to oversee a promotion year.

Luckily enough, the Swedish head coach is looking on the bright side, and is used to having to replace key names year-on-year.

"At Hammarby, we sold a lot of players, but we still developed the team all the time. That's what we are trying to do. Moving forward."