Middlesbrough's double Finn Azaz, Rav van den Berg sale welcomed - Teessiders have "upgraded" | OneFootball

Middlesbrough sold both Finn Azaz and Rav van den Berg this summer, and Boro are said to be in a better place for it

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 have started the 2025/26 campaign in flying form despite losing some of their key players in the transfer window.

There was a trend of change at the Riverside Stadiyum this summer, after former boss Michael Carrick departed the club following almost three years in charge.

Ex-Luton Town manager Rob Edwards filled the vacancy left by Carrick and got to work assembling his squad.

Boro took time to commence their business when compared to some of their Championship rivals, only making their first signing in late July.

Performances haven't been affected by this on the pitch though, with the North East outfit winning all of their opening four league matches to top the division during the September international break.

Although Edwards added to his squad well, he also had to part with some of Boro’s most valuable operators during the transfer window.

Both Finn Azaz and Rav van den Berg were incredibly important players for Boro last term but made high-profile moves away from the Riverside this summer.

Middlesbrough’s head of football, Kieran Scott, revealed to BBC Tees that he believes Van den Berg “lost his way” when pursuing a transfer out of Boro, whilst stating that Azaz pushed for an exit after expressing that he felt the club’s supporters disliked him.

Middlesbrough commended for handling of Finn Azaz and Rav van den Berg situation

Football League World’s Middlesbrough fan pundit, Liam Day, has weighed in on Scott’s comments and holds a similar opinion to Boro’s head of football.

“Lost his way is a fair way to describe Rav,” Liam told FLW.

“You could see that in the pre-season friendly games, whilst I don't think he completely downed his tools.

“He did seem a bit disinterested if we're being honest. I don't think he was giving his all and his mind did seem elsewhere.

“Whilst with Azaz, I can see why he may be upset because he did receive a lot of criticism, which personally I did feel was unfair. But as a footballer, you've got to have a strong mentality.

“If he doesn't do well at Southampton and their fans start disliking him, is he going to leave there as well?

“I feel like we have upgraded with the replacements. Azaz was quite a lazy player at times. Not reliable always, inconsistent, you never really knew what you were getting from him.

“Rav, I feel has the potential to go on, but I do feel like we replaced him well. Whether that's Alfie Jones, who’s had a really good start and I've been really impressed by him.

“I think we spent the money from both of them quite well, if I'm honest with you.”

Middlesbrough handled the summer window perfectly - they now need to kick on in the Championship

As Scott revealed, Middlesbrough knew that Azaz and Van den Berg wanted to pursue pastures new for quite a while during the transfer window.

However, they didn’t give in to the pressure and sell immediately. Instead, they addressed the areas where they were lacking depth first before commissioning any sales.

Defensive operators such as Jones, Callum Brittain and Adilson Malanda were brought in to make up for Van den Berg’s departure, and they should provide necessary depth across 46 games.

Edwards will hope that creative presences such as Tommy Conway, Morgan Whittaker and Hayden Hackney can make up the output Boro lose with Azaz, which has proven to be a safe bet during the opening stages of this season.

Middlesbrough managed to bring in some fresh faces who are committed to their project, whilst selling on operators who no longer wanted to be at the club, and look to be a stronger outfit as a result.