Middlesbrough FC only have themselves to blame as Millwall complete Luton Town transfer agreement | OneFootball

Boro have seen a transfer target slip through their fingers, and they only have themselves to blame.

Middlesbrough transfer target Alfie Doughty has completed a move from Luton Town to fellow Championship rivals Millwall, and Boro must be kicking themselves for it.

Boro have endured a largely frustrating summer so far on the transfer front.

As July prepares to turn into August, new Middlesbrough head coach Rob Edwards has only been able to make two new additions to his squad, with defender Alfie Jones and defensive midfielder Abdoulaye Kante arriving from Hull City and Troyes respectively.

The transfer saga involving Blackburn's Callum Brittain continues to rage on, but over the last few days, Boro have seen a resolution to a different transfer story that they were involved in - but it hasn't had the ending many Teessiders were hoping for.

Millwall snap up Middlesbrough target Alfie Doughty - Boro only have themselves to blame

With Edwards replacing Michael Carrick at the Riverside Stadium this summer, transfer links to his former Luton Town stars were always to be expected.

However, a report from The Northern Echo in late June confirmed that Hatters wideman Alfie Doughty was indeed a genuine player of interest to Boro, with the club keen on reuniting the pair.

But, this interest was caveated with the claim that Boro officials had come to an acceptance that completing a deal for the 25-year-old left wing-back would be 'difficult' to do.

As such, Middlesbrough opted to keep Doughty's name circled as one to come back to later in the summer, before deciding to pursue other targets in other areas of the squad first.

This pressing on with other transfer priorities has bore little fruit, however, with just the aforementioned signings of Jones and Kante to show for their summer recruitment drive so far.

But just because Boro put a deal for Doughty on the back burner didn't mean that other clubs were going to sit around and wait for a potential bidding war to ensue.

It was first reported by The Mirror on Sunday, 27 July that Millwall were attempting to sign Doughty, and the following day, his arrival as the Lions' sixth summer signing was confirmed.

As a result, the speed in which this deal was completed between Millwall and Luton certainly calls into question Middlesbrough's thinking in regard to their notion of a transfer being tough to do for him.

Whilst the fee Millwall have paid to sign the boyhood Lions fan remains undisclosed, given that the club have already shelled out on a club-record £5m+ to sign Josh Coburn from Middlesbrough this summer, it's safe to presume that if Millwall could afford to do a deal for Doughty, then so could Boro.

Doughty would've solved Middlesbrough's glaring problem on the left side of Rob Edwards' defence

It's been glaringly obvious to everyone tuned into what's happening on Teesside that Middlesbrough desperately need help on both flanks of their defensive line this summer.

On the right, Boro's only recognised and senior option is Luke Ayling, who will have turned 34 by the end of August, and is coming off the back of a highly disappointing individual season last term.

19-year-old Josh Dede is another potential option, having been signed from Celtic in January with the initial plan of joining Boro's Under-21s, but he's undergone surgery on his toe this summer, and it's not yet known when he'll be returning to fitness.

On the left, Edwards' current crop of left-wing-backs to choose from extend to Alex Bangura, Neto Borges, George McCormick and Sammy Silvera respectively.

However, Bangura will be sidelined for the next four weeks with a hamstring strain, the latest chapter in his Middlesbrough tale of injury problems preventing him from cementing a place in the team.

Borges has played his best football for Boro as a centre-back, whilst 20-year-old McCormick has only made one Championship appearance for the club heading into 25/26, and Silvera is a winger by trade, who many supporters feel could be one that is moved on from in an ideal world this summer.

Therefore, the case can clearly be made that none of these four players, with all due respect, should be viable starting options on the left flank if Boro are serious about returning to the play-offs next season, and, of course, winning them.

As such, signing a player of Doughty's proven quality, not just at Championship level but in the Premier League too, would've solved this problem emphatically, and handed Edwards a player he knows extremely well, and how to get the best out of.

So, witnessing him sign for a direct Championship and play-off rival in Millwall, over the course of a single weekend no less, will surely be cause for major frustration among the Riverside faithful.

Boro seemingly chalked his signing down as not being a priority, and one that would be tough for them to complete - Millwall have proven that perhaps wasn't the case after all.