Middlesbrough: Exciting transfer could eventually see £40m+ kitty added to: View | OneFootball

Boro have done an exceptional job of turning a substantial profit on players in recent times.

Highlights

Middlesbrough have largely been making great strides in their recruitment in recent years, and central defender Harley Hunt could well be one of their flagship signings in years to come.

Boro boss Michael Carrick and head of football Kieran Scott have proven themselves to be highly effective, resourceful and shrewd operators in the transfer market over recent windows.

The club have been able to recruit multiple players for fairly minimal transfer fees, and turn them into assets that have seen the Teessiders rake in substantial returns on their investments.

Morgan Rogers is the most recent example of this, with the former Manchester City man being signed for £1m last summer, before being sold to Aston Villa in January in a deal worth up to £16m.

Boro are said to have paid £500k up front, with a further £1m in add-ons, but when the time comes, the fee which Middlesbrough could be in line to receive for their Swindon starlet has the potential to blow that number out of the water.

Per Transfermarkt, Middlesbrough's record transfer fee received for a player is the £18m Boro received when Wolverhampton Wanderers triggered Adama Traore's release clause back in 2018.

In terms of a total package, however, then Djed's Spence move to Tottenham Hotspur in 2022 was worth £12.5m up front, with a further £7.5m in performance-related add-ons - which the Teessiders may well not have received in full.

One player that Middlesbrough chiefs will hope can one day raise that bar to record heights is Dutch youth international Rav van den Berg. After rejecting a host of elite European clubs such as Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan in favour of joining Middlesbrough last summer, the Dutchman's talent is of no secret to clubs with big wallets.

Whilst the 20-year-old appears fully committed to Boro for the immediate future, should he record another highly impressive campaign during his sophomore season in English football, then those top clubs may no longer seek to allow him to ply his trade in the North East.

Scott could well be in the position to command any such fee he desires for his star asset, and would surely be one that would see the former PEC Zwolle defender become Middlesbrough's all-time record transfer fee received.

Therefore, the striking similarities between Hunt and Van Den Berg, both in footballing traits and in physical stature, appear to be no coincidence.

Both centre-backs stand at 6'3", with the 16-year-old Hunt said to possess the same physical strengths combined with the ability to play with the ball at his feet, as Van Den Berg has.

As such, it looks very much like Middlesbrough's recruitment team had set out to find their next Van Den Berg this summer, and in Hunt, they believe they've found him.

If they have, the club could be set for another big pay day in the future, as Premier League clubs such as Manchester City were understood to be taking an interest in the teenager before Boro swooped in.

Kieran Scott continues to work his magic

When the seemingly evermore inevitable day arrives that Middlesbrough do indeed sell Van Den Berg, then it will once again cast the largely fantastic work that Scott and his team have done in the market, firmly into the spotlight.

From the above table alone, it can already be seen that those four sales with Scott as Middlesbrough's head of football, have generated over £40m in initial fees alone.

A remarkable achievement considering the former Norwich City head of recruitment has only been in his role at the Riverside Stadium for just three years.

That's not to mention all the other sales that have taken place, as well as the sellable assets outside of Van Den Berg that litter Carrick's side.

Hayden Hackney has been the apple of numerous Premier League clubs' eyes, whilst Boro have already knocked back a tentative enquiry over Emmanuel Latte Lath's availability this summer, which was believed to be around £12m.

Therefore, it's fair to say that Middlesbrough are being run as well as they have been in a very long time, with healthy profits being turned on numerous players, whilst continuing to build a talented squad that could have what it takes to win promotion next season.