Middlesbrough must let Derby County win Man City, Divin Mubama transfer race

Middlesbrough will be expected to challenge for the title in the Championship next season and they have a busy summer ahead of them to make that happen. Former Hammarby boss Kim Hellberg had Middlesbrough sitting at the top-of-the-table as late into the season as mid-February before they eventually fell to fifth. ‘Boro then went on to lose the play-off final to Hull City after being reinstated into the play-offs after the expulsion of Southampton as a result of ‘spygate’. Hellberg, who has implemented an impressive style of football working with a squad that was built for Rob Edwards and didn’t necessarily entirely fit his way of playing, will now be keen on building his own squad. That will see a fair bit of activity but one piece of business they should seek to avoid is pursuing Manchester City youngster Divin Mubama, allowing Derby County to take the former Stoke City man on loan instead. Middlesbrough should be looking for better than Divin Mubama It has been reported that both Middlesbrough and Derby are interested in signing Divin Mubama this summer but ‘Boro, as wannabe title contenders, should make way and allow The Rams to sign him instead. Divin Mubama came through the academy at West Ham United and made 12 first-team appearances for The Hammers before joining City in the summer of 2024. At City, he has one goal in two first-team appearances but spent last season out on loan at Stoke in the Championship, where his time of it was mixed. With five goals in 26 appearances in the second-tier, his streaky and inconsistent spell was not necessarily one that grabbed the headlines with The Potters. Admittedly, a player signed by Manchester City and one that still did get a handful of goals in a clearly dysfunctional Stoke side is not one to be written off but there are certainly reasons for Middlesbrough to try and pursue other targets. So close to promotion last year, both in the automatic race and then in the play-offs, Middlesbrough will believe they aren’t too far off being able to fire themselves into the Premier League and, while Mubama may well develop into a very good striker, ‘Boro should seek to find a more seasoned and reliable provider of goals next season. Middlesbrough need a clear upgrade on David Strelec and Tommy Conway Middlesbrough supporters, and clearly Hellberg himself given some of his team selections and the rumoured interest in Mubama, have reservations over both Strelec and Conway. Two good and useful players, neither have necessarily hit the heights that their £6.5 million and £4.5 million transfer fees would have suggested when they moved to the Riverside Stadium. The pair combined for 19 goals last season with Morgan Whittaker scoring 14 and there would be a fair view that if a player could be identified and signed that could hit 19 all by himself then Middlesbrough would be able to take that next step. Middlesbrough have already sealed the signing of Kyle Joseph from Hull City, and though the forward brings plenty of new qualities to the fore with his tireless running out of possession and ability to link play from the front, Hellberg could well need to further bolster his strikeforce with more goalscoring pedigree. Mubama, meanwhile, may well be a player that could contribute but a contribution isn’t really what Middlesbrough should be after, rather a striker that will be guaranteed to spearhead their fluent and often entertaining attack. Especially after the sale of Hayden Hackney to Everton for a fee believed to be worth up to £24 million in the end, ‘Boro clearly should have funds to play with this summer and with a strong squad and spine, finding that decisive player in the final third will be paramount to their plans – and it would be a blessing in disguise if they allowed Derby to pinch Mubama from City ahead of them in order to focus on more of a finished article up-front.