"Would be a disaster" - Middlesbrough demand issued over Fulham, Rav van den Berg transfer links | OneFootball

FLW has been speaking to our Middlesbrough fan pundit to discuss the potential impact of losing Van den Berg amid interest from Fulham.

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...

Fulham are reportedly taking a late interest in Middlesbrough defender Rav van den Berg, in what would deal a major blow to Boro's Premier League promotion hopes if he were to be sold.

That's according to Football Transfers journalist Jacque Talbot, who has revealed that the Cottagers have been revealed to be keeping an eye on Middlesbrough's Dutch youth international.

Boro have had to fend off interest in the centre-back throughout the summer, with Tottenham being credited as holding a major interest in the 20-year-old, alongside numerous other unnamed Premier League clubs, and with just hours remaining of the transfer window, Michael Carrick will be desperate to keep hold of his key asset.

FLW's Middlesbrough fan pundit, Phil Spencer, - Phil Spencer on YouTube - believes that losing Van den Berg in the closing stages of the window would mean Boro would have no chance of adequately replacing him, and details the fee it could take should Fulham make their reported interest concrete.

Spencer told Football League World: "It would be a disaster to lose Rav Van den Berg so close to the transfer deadline.

"Van den Berg is arguably Middlesbrough’s prized asset at the moment and that means that he would take some replacing.

"Given how close to the deadline we are, there’s no chance that Boro would be able to replace him at this stage – meaning that an exit is out of the question. We’re also nursing a number of defensive injuries, meaning that the timing of a move away couldn’t be worth.

"Middlesbrough fans aren’t naive enough to assume that we can keep Rav forever, but when he does leave it will be on the club’s terms and for a fee that is befitting of his value to the team and club.

"I think it would take a fee north of £20million to convince Middlesbrough to sell, but that surely won’t happen this summer so that Boro can get at least another season out of him."

For many on Teesside, the consensus is that Middlesbrough Football Club is in its healthiest position, both on and off the pitch, in a very long time.

That's largely been down to some excellent player recruitment from head of football Kieran Scott, Carrick and the entire recruitment team, with a clear transfer philosophy in place extracting some fantastic results.

Van den Berg has perhaps been their pièce de résistance, with the club beating a host of European heavyweights to the punch for his signature last summer.

But what Middlesbrough have really been nailing as well over the last few years is player sales. Djed Spence, Marcus Tavernier, Chuba Akpom and Morgan Rogers have netted Boro a combined fee that is around the £40m mark, potentially higher if add-ons and bonuses were met.

As such, Boro's coffers should be as full as they've been in some time, and with a squad that many believe is ready to mount a serious challenge for promotion this season, selling a key determining factor in whether that is achievable at this stage of the window would be unthinkable.

It wouldn't appear to make much sense either, as the club have fought hard to rebuff multiple interested parties over the summer, to sell Van den Berg now with literal hours left to source a replacement, wouldn't appear to be overly logical.

And with Darragh Lenihan and Dael Fry still recovering from injury, and Van den Berg himself suffering from an ailment that's kept him out of the side in recent games too, Carrick is already light on the ground in central defence.

Therefore, Boro's chiefs should maintain their stance that they've made very clear all summer, either blow us away with an offer we simply can't turn down, or take your business elsewhere.