Middlesbrough urged to avoid signing $16.2m striker as 'ambition' questioned at Riverside Stadium | OneFootball

FLW's Boro Fan Pundit wants the Teesside club to follow Sunderland's Premier League striker blueprint instead

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…

Concern has been raised regarding Middlesbrough’s interest in FC Cincinnati striker Kevin Denkey.

Boro are said to be eyeing up the 44-cap Togo international alongside automatic promotion rivals Coventry City, as per journalist Alan Nixon via Patreon.

The 25-year-old, who cost Cincinnati $16.2 million from Cercle Brugge, hit 16 league goals in his debut MLS season, and opened his account for the new 2026 campaign against Atlanta United this past weekend.

Having scored 66 goals across 152 games for Belgian outfit Cercle Brugge before moving to the USA, this gives a good explanation as to why Cincinnati were willing to pay that aforementioned record fee to bring him in 15 months ago.

But FLW’s Middlesbrough Fan Pundit, Liam Day, is not convinced that he should be the marquee forward signed if Kim Hellberg’s side do make it to the Premier League next season.

Concern raised with Middlesbrough's interest in FC Cincinnati striker Kevin Denkey

On paper, the goalscoring pedigree Denkey has does make him look like the kind of high-upside profile that newly promoted sides often gamble on, but Day wants Boro to show 'a lot more ambition'.

Boro's Fan Pundit told FLW, "We have had a lot of success buying players from the MLS recently, but, you know, I think we really need more of a presence up front."

Day accepts that the Teesside club’s recruitment team have shown they can find value in that market - with the likes of Adilson Malanda and Aidan Morris - yet his concern is whether Denkey would instantly transform the front line at top-flight level.

In truth, a big part of his thinking centres on Boro's current main striker, Tommy Conway, stating: "Conway’s a good presser, but physicality-wise he does get bullied a bit. You saw that against Cov with that kick-off - whilst I do think it was a foul it shows he does get bullied a bit.

"I think running-wise Conway’s perfectly fine, but I'd like to see someone with aerial presence. I don’t know if a striker from the MLS who only managed 16 goals is good enough for the Premier League, I’d like to see a lot more ambition."

In terms of being 'good enough' for the Premier League, if you look at how Malanda's old Charlotte FC team-mate Patrick Agyemang has faired in England since his own move to the Championship, you can see the value that is potentially there is to be had with MLS forwards.

As reported on Tuesday by Football Insider, Derby County are apparently preparing to receive £20m plus bids for him in the summer from Premier League sides - and he’s managed ten Championship goals so far this season, which is one less than Morgan Whittaker.

Middlesbrough told to follow Sunderland's Premier League striker blueprint

When Day talks about showing ambition for signing a striker to potentially play in the Premier League, he points to Sunderland’s summer business as the prime example.

"Like a Brian Brobbey who Sunderland bought, obviously I’m not saying go and sign him because I think that’s nearly impossible, but I think you’ve got to look at what they’ve done - buy players who are quite experienced in the Champions League and stuff like that in Europe, go out and get them," Daly said.

For context, the Black Cats paid a reported £21.6m to bring Brobbey in from Ajax on a five-year deal last summer - and he has five Premier League goals for the Wearsiders so far, which is seemingly the kind of impact Day wants to see from Boro's next centre-forward signing.

He concluded by telling FLW, "I’d like to see that if we do go up, instead of buying from the MLS, I think you need to go really ambitious - £30m signings and a striker should be arguably the main priority this summer."

That said, Denkey netted four goals and provided five assists in just six UEFA Conference League matches for Brugge in 24/25 - whilst picking up one assist in four Europa League games that same season.

So, ultimately, there is a case to be made that he ticks more boxes than the average MLS signing, and would be more than capable of making the step up to Premier League football.