"Disappointed" - Claim made on player Middlesbrough signed from Leicester City | OneFootball

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 were in desperate need of depth at left-back in January and managed to bring in what on paper looked like a good signing.

Luke Thomas joined on loan from Championship rivals Leicester City, having spent the first half of the season in the Premier League with Sheffield United.

Lukas Engel has been Boro’s first-choice left-back this season after arriving in the summer from Danish side Silkeborg, but he was dropped when Thomas joined.

But after playing a part in his first five games after his arrival (including three starts), he has been an unused substitute for Boro’s last four Championship games.

Fan pundit disappointed with Thomas

Football League World’s Middlesbrough fan pundit Dana has said that she has been underwhelmed by Thomas’ appearances at the Riverside so far, despite the fact there was not much expectation to begin with.

“I didn't really have so much of an expectation of Luke Thomas when he joined Middlesbrough, I just categorised him as a backup left-back, because thankfully Lukas Engel has been fit and available for some time now.

“Other than that, we don’t have depth there, so Luke Thomas was a necessary pickup. But the fact Michael Carrick started him ahead of Engel was a real head-scratcher, and coupled with the fact his performances just weren’t up to par, it just raised eyebrows even further.

“So I’m glad Engel has regained his place in the starting eleven because I just wasn’t impressed with Luke Thomas whatsoever. He was wasteful in attack, there just didn’t seem to be a lot of positive outcomes from him from an attacking standpoint. Defensively, I think he was very suspect one-on-one and he’s not the strongest physically either, so I felt like in a battle with a somewhat quick winger, he just fell short.

“So overall, I would say I’ve been disappointed with his impact despite pretty much having no expectations of him when he joined.”

The 22-year-old had been a consistent performer for Leicester in the last three seasons in the top flight, so when he joined Sheffield United on loan, it looked to be a good move.

However, his loan was terminated in January after just 12 league appearances, with the Blades bottom of the table.

A drop down to the Championship seemed like the right thing to do, and looked quite the coup for Boro.

But Thomas has failed to live up to expectations, with Engel regaining his starting spot.

At the age of 22, Thomas still has a long way to go in his professional career, and one bad season should not impact his career all too much.

But his pedigree will be hampered, having gone from a regular Premier League starter to not being able to get into a mid-table Championship team, within the space of a year.

With Leicester seemingly not needing him and with a potential promotion back to the Premier League on the cards, it will be interesting to see what happens with Thomas in the summer.