Middlesbrough urged to 'get rid' of £3m star - Kim Hellberg faces potential decision | OneFootball

Middlesbrough have been told to move Sontje Hansen on during the January window after his disappointing start since his summer arrival from NEC.

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Chris is a freelance writer for Football League World. Graduating from Leeds Trinity University, Chris has been part of the FLW team since 2017 and has produced thousands of articles.

Primarily covering the Championship, Chris has attended West Brom and Birmingham City matches over the years to provide detailed match reports and sitting in on press conferences.

He is part of the team that covers all the latest news from the Football League, as well as sharing in-depth opinion pieces and longer-form features. Chris also part of the editing team at FLW.

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Middlesbrough have been told to ‘cut their losses’ with Sontje Hansen after his difficult start to life in English football.

There was a lot of excitement on Teesside when Boro finalised a deal worth €3.5m for the attacker in the summer window.

Hansen arrived with good pedigree, having come through the ranks at Ajax, whilst he impressed in the Eredivisie with NEC, so there was an expectation that he could become a key player at the Riverside Stadium.

Sontje Hansen has struggled under Rob Edwards and Kim Hellberg

However, whilst Boro are flying high in the Championship, it’s fair to say that Hansen has underwhelmed.

So far, he has managed just 12 Championship appearances, the vast majority from the bench, and he has scored just once, which was at Preston back in September.

Hansen was by no means a regular under former boss Rob Edwards, but he has fallen further down the pecking order under new boss Kim Hellberg recently, with the Swede rarely turning to the player.

Therefore, it was no surprise that when asked by FLW which one player should move on, FLW's Boro fan pundit Liam was adamant that Hansen needs to be shipped out, as he also highlighted his social media activity as something that didn’t endear him to supporters.

“I think with what’s gone on in this window, Sontje Hansen needs to leave the club.

“There has been talk of him having a bad attitude, and he commented on a social media post about how he wants to be freed, with the hashtag ‘Free Sontje’ I believe it was.

“I don’t want him at my club. When he is on the pitch he has got a bit of ability, but there were reports when we signed him about attitude issues, and it’s clear that’s the case.

“The fact he has not got a sniff from both managers says to me that there’s issues.

“He might be popular, I don’t know, it’s hard to say what’s going on behind the scenes, but when you’re doing stuff like that, I don’t want you at the club. So, either a loan or permanently, cut our losses, and get rid. It’s one of those transfers, you can’t win them all, it’s a bit of a gamble, but I think Hansen needs to leave.”

Sontje Hansen leaving Middlesbrough could suit all parties

You should always give new signings time to adapt when they travel to a new country and league, but the reality is that Hansen’s transfer hasn’t worked out so far.

The £3m fee was a decent sum for Boro to spend, and it’s unlikely they will get anywhere near that if Hansen was to leave this month.

That does put Boro in a difficult position, but Hansen doesn’t appear to be enjoying life on Teesside right now, and you get the feeling an exit would be beneficial for everyone.

Hellberg clearly isn’t a massive fan of the 23-year-old, and if there are issues with his attitude and professionalism, it would make sense to move the player on.

Of course, we don’t know that he is disruptive behind the scenes, but, even so, purely from a football perspective, Hansen needs to be playing regularly and that won’t happen with Middlesbrough.

So, a move would give Hellberg more funds and space to bring in new signings, and attacking reinforcements are sure to be a priority in the final weeks of the window.