"Can get by without him" - Middlesbrough fan pundit open to sale of key Michael Carrick player | OneFootball

FLW's Boro fan pundit believes the club should look to sell Riley McGree this summer over any other key players

Highlights

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…

Michael Carrick will have to fend off a lot of interest in his key players this summer after a sub-par showing in the Championship last season.

Middlesbrough finished fourth in the second-tier and lost out to Coventry City in the play-off semi-finals in 2022/23, but failed to build on that successful season last campaign.

Carrick's side began the 2023/24 season in awful form, but managed to improve and eventually finished eighth in the Championship, four points off the play-off places, with the likes of Emmanuel Latte Lath and Rav van den Berg impressing.

Club Chairman Steve Gibson is "bullish" in his desire to keep his star players on Teesside, but Boro could surely be tempted by big offers for their standout performers in the last few years, most of whom will certainly be on the wish list of top-flight clubs in England and abroad.

Middlesbrough should look to move Riley McGree on this summer

Riley McGree is entering the final year of his contract at the Riverside Stadium, and only played 22 league games in 2023/24 as he saw his influence on the team wane in comparison to his stellar previous campaign.

FLW's Middlesbrough fan pundit Phil Spencer of talkSPORT would be happy to see Boro cash in on the Australian international in the transfer window, ahead of any other player.

He said: “There are a number of Middlesbrough players who are attracting big interest this summer, but the one player that I’d be most happy to see move on would be Riley McGree.

“Rav van den Berg, Hayden Hackney and Emmanuel Latte Lath are three players who are attracting attention and would command big money fees, but all three of them are absolutely vital for what Middlesbrough want to do next season – van den Berg is a solid presence and going to get better and better, we didn’t see all of what Hackney has to offer last season due to injury, and Latte Lath started to show what he was capable of at the back end of the campaign, so he could have a massive season.

“As far as McGree is concerned, he is someone who is in the final 12 months of his contract, and there appears to be a bit of reluctance in terms of penning that new deal at the club.

“More importantly than that, Boro do seem to be hot on the case in terms of finding a replacement and finding ways to make up for his absence – Finn Azaz joined in January and often played off the left flank in the inside forward position that McGree had played previously, and we are also on the look-out for another versatile attacker to come in, so if that signing is done then we’d have two options that can play where McGree plays. “As much as McGree is a fantastic player - when he’s fit and in form he is probably Middlesbrough’s best attacking outlet - last season he didn’t play a huge amount of football due to injury and being away with Australia at the Asian Cup, so we have shown that we can get by without him, even if last season wasn’t the best campaign all-in-all.

“If an offer did come in this summer to sell him on and cash in with just a year left on his contract, I think it would be a deal that would be alright for Boro to do, and I think we’d cope with the options we have to get by without him.”

McGree's recent lack of impact makes him best option to sell

McGree joined Middlesbrough on a three-and-a-half-year contract in January 2022 from American outfit Charlotte FC, after he had previously impressed in a 14-month loan spell at Birmingham City.

After a strong end to his first half-season on Teesside, he became one of Carrick's most important attacking players in 2022/23 as he registered six goals and three assists in 46 games in all competitions and helped Boro finish in the play-offs.

This past season has been tough for the Australian international though - a foot injury and his country's Asian Cup campaign restricted him to 16 appearances in the first-half of the season, and after just nine more games in the side, he saw his season come to an end in March after he picked up another foot injury on international duty.

He was unable to make a serious impact on Boro's season as a result of his constant absences, and they certainly struggled more in front of goal without him, netting 71 goals in 2023/24 compared to 84 goals in 2023/24 when he was at his best.

TeessideLive has suggested that talks over a new contract are ongoing with the 25-year-old, but both parties are apart in terms of what an acceptable deal looks like, so it leaves an uncertain cloud over his future as Boro head into a summer where Michael Carrick will want to refresh his squad, but keep hold of key men like Latte Lath and van den Berg.

It certainly seems viable that McGree could leave Middlesbrough this summer, as they look to cash in for a fee that eclipses the reported £3.1m paid for him back in 2022, before his contract potentially expires next summer, and he leaves for nothing.