"That time has passed" - Middlesbrough FC given Ryan Giles advice | OneFootball

The full-back spent the 2022/23 campaign at the Riverside Stadium and enjoyed great success, but joined the Tigers permanently in the summer.

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...

Ryan Giles' time at Middlesbrough was excellent. He enjoyed a superb season at left-back for the team as they reached the play-offs in Michael Carrick's first year in charge.

The 24-year-old joined Boro on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers following spells at Blackburn Rovers, Cardiff City, Coventry City and Rotherham United - with each season coming with a variety of success for the defender.

However, he hit it off at the Riverside Stadium, and played a key role in helping his side to a fourth place finish in the Championship. Giles registered 11 assists from full-back, and there were hopes that he would return for the 2023/24 campaign.

But, a permanent deal to Luton Town ended all hopes of that, and he eventually joined Hull City on loan, with the deal also becoming a permanent one in the summer, as he made the switch for £5m.

Nevertheless, there have often been calls for Giles to go back to Middlesbrough on several occasions and help recreate the success that they enjoyed two years ago.

Verdict made on any potential Giles, Middlesbrough reunion in the future

Boro missed the 24-year-old dearly last season at left-back, with Lukas Engel taking on the majority of responsibility in the position for the campaign.

While he did show flashes of his talent, inconsistency plagued his season, and he was not able to provide going forward in the same way that Giles could.

However, when asked if he would like to see the Hull full-back return to the Riverside at some point in the future, Football League World's Middlesbrough Fan Pundit, Jasper Hudson, was rather reluctant.

He told FLW: "Every window since Ryan Giles left us, it has been speculated about him joining back, and I just feel like it's gone on too long now, that time has passed. We've got Lukas Engel and we've got Neto Borges. These are two left backs that we've spent money on, and we've got to back them and play them and I hope that they can develop.

"While both of them have not been anywhere near consistent enough, when they play well, they're clearly at the level. But it's not been consistent enough from either of them.

"Engel has suffered massively with injury, and we've also got Alex Bangura coming back from injury soon, who will feel like a new signing with how little he's played for us, but we've got plenty of left-backs."

Jasper continued: "Are any of them good enough? I think we're yet to fully find out. They're not consistent enough at the minute, but I just think adding Giles to that would just take away from Borges and Engel and there's no real need to do that.

"From what I've seen of Giles, he has not been able to hit the same heights as when he first joined us."

Middlesbrough have missed the boat with Giles for now

While his performances were excellent for Middlesbrough during his time at the club, the last couple of seasons have not been as fruitful for him, and at this moment in time it would be the wrong decision to head back in for him.

At 24, there is still plenty of time left in his career to return to the Riverside, but Boro's ambitions are seemingly above the full-back's current levels, and they already have a number of players in the same position.

Carrick did try to bring him back during the summer, but with Hull's obligation to buy him, it proved extremely difficult, and instead he stayed at the MKM Stadium.

He has been involved in the majority of the Tigers' games so far this campaign, and under Ruben Selles he will be hoping that he can help out even more, especially in terms of attacking output in the second half of the season.