According to the reports from the Sun as cited by Hull Daily Mail, Middlesbrough are eyeing a deal for Fulham’s midfielder Kevin McDonald. The experienced midfielder has fallen down the pecking order at Craven Cottage ever since Claudio Ranieri took over and it seems like the former Premier League winning manager is willing to let (Sky Sports) the midfielder leave this month.
McDonald played a crucial role in Fulham’s promotion pursuit and was an important player under Slavisa Jokanovic. However, change in manager doesn’t often bring good fortune to certain players. It is believed (The Sun) that Tony Pulis is looking for a six-month loan move for McDonald with a view of a permanent deal in the future.
Boro started off well in the Championship and occupied the direct promotion spots for quite a while. However, lack of goals and dynamism have finally caught up with them, and they currently sit on the fifth spot. Tony Pulis’ side have the best defensive record in the league by quite some margin, but they are also the least scoring side in the top 18. Everyone expects Pulis to build his team on the back of a strong defence which they have definitely done, but lack of goals is the reason why they have slipped in the past month or so.
On paper, McDonald is a typical Pulis player as he is tall, strong and robust in his challenges and shows impressive work rate. The defensive midfielder does the job well as he is willing to battle and is uncompromising and uncomplicated in his approach. There is no doubt that Pulis loves having a player like that in his arsenal.
However, the Teessiders have enough depth in midfield in the forms of Clayton, Leadbitter, Wing, Besic, Saville and Howson. Almost all of them can do a job in midfield, and quite a few of the lot are decent enough defensive midfielders. Pulis should probably look at bringing in a more dynamic midfielder who can open up opposition defences.
McDonald though has enough experience of the Championship, and he has been part of promotions runs before. Therefore that could come in handy for the Boro manager. But the squad is definitely not calling out for another midfielder like that to come in. The 30-year-old though could be hungry to prove his worth as he hasn’t received many opportunities this season.
Given his overall quality, he would be a decent signing. However, a signing like this is not a necessity for the Teessiders, and we don’t really see how he would solve Middlesbrough’s goal-scoring woes.
