Garry Monk Means Business And Britt Assombalonga’s Acquisition Clearly Tops The Lot For Middlesbrough
Recently relegated Middlesbrough have moved to break their transfer record by signing Nottingham Forest striker Britt Assombalonga for a fee of £15million. The 24-year-old Congolese player’s fee tops the fee that Boro handed over to Heerenveen for the much maligned Afonso Alves back in 2008.
Having announced himself on the scene at the City Ground with 15 goals in 29 league games back in the 2014/15 season, a knee injury in the following term almost put paid to his career. He came back with a bang though, scoring 14 off 32 in last season’s Championship for a team that struggled in the main.
Getting back to full fitness and improving naturally, playing for a promotion chasing club will be the making of Assombalonga, and a 20, or even 30-goal season now would be of no surprise whatsoever.
Assombalonga was also responsible for Forest’s transfer record back in 2014 when he arrived in Nottingham from Peterborough United for over £5.5million. He caught the eye after scoring 24 goals in 45 League One games which, for a young striker, was an exceptional run. He scored 33 in total during the season and those sorts of figures rarely go unnoticed.
Having already added Martin Braithwaite, Jonny Howson and Cyrus Christie to the ranks, new boss Garry Monk means business and this acquisition clearly tops the lot.
Assombalonga genuinely looks like a Premier League player in the waiting and Boro have had to pay a Premier League fee to bring him to the Riverside. Alright, better deals may be out there but this shows that they are not messing about and are not willing to simply pocket the Premier League TV money. It is being reinvested in talent.
Already their squad looks better than last year’s to me and so they will have the right to call themselves as promotion favourites. As long as Assombalonga stays fit, they will have the forward talisman who is always needed when fighting for the title in this division.
In terms of the fee, compare the money paid here, to the £12million that Newcastle are forking out for Norwich City winger Jacob Murphy. This is an excellent signing for the Toon and one which has already made most fans happy, so make no mistake that Boro are mixing it in the market with the big boys.
Pride often comes before a fall so if I were a Boro fan, I wouldn’t get too excited just yet. Wolves are also making great strides in the market and this league overall has improved massively in the last fortnight or so, based on the talent it has attracted in the transfer market. As every week goes by, it becomes potentially a harder and harder league to win. Boro are in a great position though.