As per the latest reports, Ryan Shotton has made a move to Middlesbrough for a fee which is believed to be £3million. The Birmingham City defender joins the Smoggies on a three-year deal as a part of Garry Monk’s defensive reconstruction process at Middlesbrough. The deal had been in the pipeline for a lengthy spell this summer and moments back, it did materialize.
Boro got themselves relegated to the Championship after their shambolic display in the Premier League last summer. They succumbed to the animosity which the English top division has on offer and even after their demotion, they haven’t been able to chalk out appealing results so far. They have accumulated merely 7 points from their first 5 league outings, with their latest game ending as a goalless stalemate against Preston North End last weekend.
Monk, however, has been very shrewd this summer in pencilling the right deals in order to beef his squad. The Riverside Stadium based club have splashed cash left, right and centre and have already signed the likes of Britt Assombalonga, Martin Braithwaite, Ashley Fletcher, Jonathan Howson and Darren Randolph to name a few. Their recruitments have been pretty shrewd but the former Leeds United boss is desirous of tightening the screws of their backline, and thus, their move for bagging Shotton made perfect sense.
The 28-year-old emerged through the youth ranks of Stoke City and was then promoted to their senior side. However, he failed to construct a strong footing for himself in the ranks for the Potters and was shipped out on loan to a wide array of clubs, including Barnsley, Wigan Athletic and Derby County. In the January transfer window of 2015, the Rams signed him permanently, after which he was lured to St. Andrew’s by the Blues. He does have a decent experience in the Championship and there exists no doubt about the same.
The Englishman is a defender of fine calibre, with his versatility being his strongest suit. Although he is a right-back predominantly, he is capable of plying his trade as a centre-back as well. He is strong in the air, reads the game well, has grown as a player over the course of his career and builds the game from the back and was desirous to make a switch to the ranks of Monk. The new Middlesbrough manager is really having a roll this summer and his new acquisition should help him in reshaping his back line for better.
