According to latest reports, Middlesbrough are ready to offer Bristol City £5m for the services of Aden Flint. The 28-year-old seems to be high on the transfer list of many clubs and is being considered by Tony Pulis as a replacement for Ben Gibson. The latter has been drawing interest from Everton and the Boro boss is preparing for the worst.
Pulis grades the 6 feet 6 inch Robins defender highly and is ready to break the bank to get him. Flint is known to be one of the best defenders in the EFL Championship and has managed to grab the spotlight due to his goal scoring exploits. Despite being a centre-back, the Englishman scored 9 last season alone while also setting up 2 assist from his 46 all around appearances.
That is an astonishing tally for a player who spends the majority of his time in front of his own goal. Some would even say that the Pinxton-born player deserves a place in the English top-flight, after spending his entire career in the lower divisions. He was seen in action last term against Manchester City in the Carabo Cup semi-finals. The 28-year-old went on to do a remarkable job at stopping the three-man City attacks and even won the man of the match award in the first leg.
He scored 15 goals in the 2015/16 season to help Bristol win promotion from the League One. Flint started his career with Alfreton Town where he made 100 league appearances and was even loaned out to Matlock Town at some point. He developed himself further with Swindon Town before making his way over to Ashton Gate in the summer of 2013.
Flint’s only international experience comes from his appearances for the England C side. He made his debut against Wales semi-professional national side and later played the entire 90 minutes in the 1-0 win over Estonia U23s.
The defender towers over every single opposition forward and has developed into a prime professional. At 28, he still has a chance at making it into the English top-flight even if he has to earn it through the Championship playoffs.
Middlesbrough are hungrier than ever for promotion after losing out to Aston Villa in the first round of the playoffs last season. Bristol City were in the promotion spots earlier in the campaign but fell off towards the late stages.
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Maybe a transfer will suit him well at this point of his career but his contract extension is bound to drive his price up further, acting as a stumbling block for Boro.
