Kim Hellberg’s Middlesbrough comments should frighten Championship rivals | OneFootball

Middlesbrough's rivals have every reason to be concerned with their recent transfer business

Middlesbrough will have to pick themselves back up over the summer after losing in the play-off final to Hull City.

The Teesside outfit were granted a place in the showpiece fixture despite losing in the semi-finals, as they Southampton’s place a result of their expulsion from the competition.

But Kim Hellberg’s side were unable to take advantage of the second chance, with a late Oli McBurnie strike separating the two teams.

The Swedish coach will be hoping to take his team one step further in their pursuit of promotion to the Premier League next season.

Boro have already been quite active in the transfer market in a bid to improve their squad for another promotion push next season.

The club have signed Myles Peart-Harris as a free agent, while also completing permanent deals for Jeremy Sarmiento, Kyle Joseph and Kyle Lankshear, with further arrivals likely on the way.

Kim Hellberg backs Kyle Joseph for Middlesbrough success

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The signings of Joseph and Lankshear have added a lot of extra firepower to Hellberg’s frontline for the new campaign.

And it’s no surprise that the 38-year-old is excited to work with the pair, and his recent comments regarding Joseph’s potential show perfectly why fans should share that same sentiment.

And rivals will be concerned, with the Middlesbrough boss predicting that the former Hull City forward will be capable of scoring 15 to 20 goals in the Championship, while also praising his work off the ball as well.

“I like a lot about Kyle - his power, his ability to run, and run with pace," said Hellberg, via The Northern Echo.

"That was something we didn’t have enough of last season.

“I think he has a goalscoring possibility too.

"He scored eight goals last season but I think he has the ability to increase that next season. He is a player that could even go up and touch 15-20 goals a season.

“I think that based on what I’ve seen from him - good movement in the box, his desire to learn and improve, and his drive.

"There are a lot of things to like with him.

“He can press all over the pitch as well."

Joseph helped the Tigers gain promotion last season at the expense of Boro, contributing eight goals and five assists from 46 appearances in the Championship.

The 24-year-old still also has room to develop and grow as a player as he gains more and more experience at this level, having featured a total of just 72 times in the second tier in his career.

And on top of that, he will also have Lankshear in the squad to compete with for game time, and potentially even play alongside.

The 21-year-old scored 11 times in the Championship last year, so Boro have signed an additional 19 goals for their forward line, which should help solve their key issue from last season.

Championship rivals will be concerned by Middlesbrough’s transfer business

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The battle at the top of the Championship this year will be quite intense, particularly with clubs like West Ham, Wolves and Burnley coming down, who all have strong top flight pedigree from recent seasons.

Southampton, Norwich City, Wrexham and Birmingham City will all also be among the clubs aiming to earn a top eight finish.

And all of those clubs will be frightened by the arrivals of Lankshear and Joseph at the Riverside.

Middlesbrough’s promotion push last season faltered when the team hit a patch of poor finishing, which saw them slide from second to fifth in the table.

So adding firepower like Lankshear and Joseph should go a long way to solving that problem for next season.

And even with Hayden Hackney’s sale, the impending signing of Sebastian Berhalter from the Vancouver Whitecaps should go some way to replacing him in the squad.

If the American can perform to a similar level as the new Everton signing, then it could solve the key issue surrounding their transfer business so far this window, and really cement the team as a major threat in the promotion battle.