Middlesbrough: Michael Carrick discusses January bids after Crystal Palace transfer news | OneFootball

The Boro head coach has been speaking on how the club is preparing to navigate the winter window, including receiving possible bids for key assets.

Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick believes it's a good sign that top clubs are taking an interest in some of Boro's star players after Crystal Palace were linked with Rav van den Berg January transfer window.

The Teessiders currently have a full 25-man squad of registered players heading into the winter window, meaning should Middlesbrough wish to make any permanent signings of players over the age of 21 or any loan acquisitions, they would have to first deregister or sell a player.

Boro have been building a strong squad over the last couple of transfer windows, with shrewd additions from both within English football, as well as from various leagues across Europe.

However, they have sold important assets in the January window before, with Morgan Rogers being sold to Aston Villa in the previous winter window in a deal worth up to £16m.

That piece of business came fairly out of the blue, and showed that the club are open to big-money exits at the halfway stage of the season if the deal is right. One potential major bit of movement could come in the form of van den Berg, as Boro's Dutch youth international has been linked with a move to Crystal Palace.

So, with the new year fast approaching, Carrick has been quizzed on his mindset heading into January this time around...

Carrick not phased by interest being shown in his star players

Having top clubs circling his best players is nothing new for Carrick, as largely due to the excellent work he and his staff have done during his time on Teesside, that's something he's been accustomed to throughout the duration of his Middlesbrough tenure.

Both from his playing days and now as a coach, the 43-year-old is rarely phased by anything, and transfer talk surrounding his stars isn't the exception either. In fact, the Boro boss chooses to embrace it rather than show fear.

Speaking via Teesside Live, Carrick said: "It’s a good sign and we’ve had it before and we’ll have it again. That’s how it is and it’s up to us to manage that and come out stronger and build something as a team and club to keep getting better.

"That’s the nature of the business. Naturally, in the game, people look and like them and think that they might do a job for them, that’s just how it works. So I don’t worry about it. All the boys are an absolute joy to work with and enjoy being here and trying to achieve something and that’s purely all that’s on our mind at the moment."

It is thought that Boro are still keen to avoid letting any key players leave - as they were in the summer - but that everyone has their price.

Thanks to turning big profits in recent times on the likes of the aforementioned Rogers, as well as players such as Chuba Akpom, Marcus Tavernier, and Djed Spence, Middlesbrough appear to be in their healthiest financial position in some time.

As a result, they should be able to take a firm 'not for sale' stance on their key assets in January, as they did during the summer window, as they were able to turn away a £20m approach from Ipswich Town for Emmanuel Latte Lath.

Therefore, if Crystal Palace do indeed come calling for van den Berg in the new year, Boro should continue to show resilience and rebuff any approach, whilst issuing an ultimatum to any of their star players linked with a January exit.

Carrick should point towards what the club are trying to achieve this season, which is promotion to the Premier League. In that pursuit, they appear to have all the ingredients needed from a talent perspective, they just need to deliver on the pitch. As such, a January move is off the table.

If come the summer, however, and Middlesbrough aren't plying their trade in the top-flight, then if interest is rife once again, then the club won't stand in their way should they receive a fair offer for their services.

Carrick appears to have cultivated a tight-knit dressing room at the Riverside, as exemplified by the positive attitude shown from Latte Lath after his Tractor Boys transfer was blocked, and so he won't have any fears when it comes to the potential of rotting the apple cart by taking this approach.

Indeed, if there is no movement at all in January both in terms of incomings and outgoings at the club, Carrick will likely be more than content with that outcome, as he will be confident that he has everything a promotion-winning side requires in his current 25-man crop.