Middlesbrough were the clear losers from costly Bristol City deal: View | OneFootball

Boro's 2018 £7m signing of Aden Flint looked like a masterstroke by Tony Pulis, but after just one season, his time on Teesside was over.

Key Takeaways

Towering centre-back Aden Flint was signed by Middlesbrough in 2018, as Boro boss Tony Pulis looked to implement his trademark direct and physical style of play to the Riverside Stadium.

The former West Bromwich Albion manager was given the Middlesbrough gig on Boxing Day 2017, fresh off the back of the short, but fairly disastrous tenure of Garry Monk previously.

A careless summer of spending from the former Swansea City player and manager ensured that a large portion of Boro's transfer budget was splurged on big-price flops, and would ultimately set the club back for years to come.

But at the time, Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson was prepared to back Pulis with whatever funds he could make available, as the club went in search of a quick return to the Premier League.

Pulis' biggest splash was on Bristol City defender Flint, who he hoped would become a player who could lay siege to opposition boxes from set pieces, and provide a wall of muscle and strength that would take some beating at the back.

Football League World takes a look at Flint's time on Teesside, and why he is doomed to history as one of Boro's most expensive flops in recent times.

The reasoning behind Flint's signing was obvious

Sometimes in football, having a player inflict pain on your team is enough for those in charge to ensure they'll be doing the same in their club's shirt from then on.

That's precisely what happened with Flint and Middlesbrough, as his header was glanced home by Wes Burns from a 95th minute corner to earn Bristol City three points over a Boro side who were top of the Championship.

Not wishing to be on the receiving end of Flint's aerial prowess again, Boro signed the big centre-back in the summer of 2018, for a reported fee of £7m.

Flint made the move to the North East fresh from a 2017/18 season that saw him bag nine goals in all competitions, with his goalscoring record from his time with the Robins being nothing short of outstanding.

The former Alfreton Town and Swindon Town defender made 246 appearances for the club, scoring 38 goals and registering 11 assists.

Should he bring that form to Teesside with him, then Pulis would absolutely be getting his money's worth on Flint, as one of the Championship's most feared players was ready to make his mark at his new club.

What's more, the presence of Ryan Shotton and his long throws into the box appeared to be a match made in Boro heaven, as Flint would have the license to get forward and take advantage of an abundance of balls being hurled into the opposition box. What could go wrong?

Mistakes and an absence of goals made Flint's Boro stay a torrid one

Unfortunately for Flint and Middlesbrough, heaven quickly turned into hell, as his season went down a path that nobody had foreseen, especially after scoring on his Riverside debut.

With just one goal in 42 appearances in all competitions in the 2018/19 season, arguably Flint's biggest selling point and the main reason why he was brought to Middlesbrough in the first place, was absent from his game.

Mistakes were the common denominator of his season, with Boro's big defender later admitting that he did not live up to his, nor the club's expectations.

Speaking in a 2019 interview with Teesside Live, Flint said: "Personally it was very disappointing, it was not up to my standards at all.

“I'm hoping to improve this season – I mean it can't be hard to improve on last season because personally it was diabolical to be honest.”

Flint once again spoke of his time on Teesside in an interview from March 2024, in which he told Teesside Live in association with Sky Bet: "It was a big fee at the time and there was a lot of expectation on me going to Middlesbrough.

"I was coming off the back of scoring goals for Bristol City. I was keen to get in and do well – we missed out on the play-offs on goal difference unfortunately. We had the best defence in the league at the time, so we just missed out proportionally.

“It was a short spell at Middlesbrough. Obviously given the expectation of me going in for a big fee – seven million – my time there was quite disappointing.

"A lot of the fans will agree with that as well because it wasn’t the season I was expecting from myself, and probably they were expecting. It’s one of those things – I've got no regrets how it all came about but it happens in football sometimes.”

Having signed a four-year contract with Middlesbrough, leaving the club after one season was clearly something that hadn't entered the thinking of Flint or the club when he put pen-to-paper on the deal.

But, that's precisely what happened. Flint signed for Championship rivals Cardiff City in the summer of 2019, for a reported fee of £4m, which could potentially rise to £6m in add-ons.

Flint's signing looked to have all the makings of a great deal for Middlesbrough under Pulis, but a combination of individual errors compounded with the weight of a substantial transfer fee meant that Boro saw it best to cut their losses on him after just 12 months.