Middlesbrough eye Leeds United and Nottingham Forest players | OneFootball

Middlesbrough have taken an interest in Leeds United's Charlie Cresswell and Nottingham Forest's Joe Worrall, according to last night's report from The Sun.

Boro are currently in need of strengthening their central defence, with Darragh Lenihan being ruled out injured for the remainder of the 2023/24 campaign after undergoing surgery.

In the absence of Lenihan, with Dael Fry also unavailable, Rav van den Berg and Paddy McNair lined up alongside each other as Boro's starting central defenders.

Matt Clarke did come off the bench, but he has struggled to remain fit for much of his stay at the Riverside and there's even uncertainty about McNair's future, with the Northern Irishman now entering the final months of his contract.

With this in mind, recruiting a central defender is a must during the winter window and The Sun believes that funds will be there for manager Michael Carrick to secure an addition in this area.

However, that addition will ideally be a loanee, according to the same outlet.

With Grant Hall departing the club on the expiration of his contract in the summer, van den Berg came in as a younger replacement, but Boro now find themselves short of options in this area despite their summer business.

What situations are Charlie Cresswell and Joe Worrall in?

21-year-old Cresswell has found his game time limited at Elland Road so far this season, with the likes of Pascal Struijk, Joe Rodon and Liam Cooper all ahead of him in the pecking order.

With these options in mind, it would be difficult to see the England youth international winning much game time under Daniel Farke between now and the end of the season unless there are some injury problems in the centre-back department.

That's a possibility - but the defender may not want to rely on others becoming unavailable to win game time.

Worrall, who is currently at Forest, has been out of contention recently despite starting the season as the Premier League side's captain.

Cresswell had a mixed spell at Millwall last season - but he grew and should be a decent enough asset for Boro at this level.

He isn't the most experienced figure - but has secured game time at this level and will only grow better with more matches under his belt.

It's just a shame they seemingly can't afford to bring the defender in permanently.

In the short term, Worrall would probably be an even better signing with his promotion-winning experience and ability in mind.

Able to operate in both a back three and a back four, the defender is adaptable and also has leadership skills, something that will be valuable to a young team.