Middlesbrough ready to rival West Brom to sign a Strelec & Stewart upgrade

It is fair to say that Middlesbrough needed to bolster their forward line in the summer transfer window after they lost 1-0 in the Championship play-off final last season.

Kim Hellberg’s side fell short at the final hurdle and a lack of clinical finishing clearly cost the club, both in the play-offs and in the automatic promotion race.

Tommy Conway scored 13 goals from 17.53 xG and David Strelec scored eight goals from 12.76 xG in the Championship, illustrating the significant underperformance of their forward players in front of goal.

Boro have moved to sign Will Lankshear from Tottenham Hotspur for an initial fee of £10m, after he scored 11 goals in the second tier on loan at Oxford United in the 2025/26 campaign.

Why Middlesbrough need to sign another striker

Hellberg should want another centre-forward addition to his squad before the end of the window, because Lankshear is far from a guaranteed success on Teeside.

The England youth international missed 15 ‘big chances’ on his way to scoring 11 goals in the league last term, which shows that he is not a faultless finisher who rarely misses big opportunities to score.

Boro should, therefore, want to bring in another number nine who can compete with Lankshear for a place in the side, as Strelec failed to show that he is up to the task last season.

The Slovakia international wasted far too many chances to find the back of the net for Hellberg’s team and offered little to the team as a physical outlet, as he lost the majority of his duels on the ground and in the air.

Strelec’s performances in his first season at Middlesbrough do not suggest that he is ready to play a leading role in a promotion push, which is why he should be replaced before the end of the window.

Middlesbrough in talks to beat West Brom to Strelec upgrade

They are not the only team looking to add attacking reinforcements, though, and they may have to beat Championship rivals West Bromwich Albion to one of their targets.

Foot Mercato journalist Santi Aouna reports that Middlesbrough are one of the teams interested in a deal to sign former Lorient centre-forward Bamba Dieng this summer.

The reporter claims that Boro and Hull City have both opened talks with the Senegal international to bring him to England, a month after his contract with Lorient expired.

Aouna claims that the 26-year-old number nine is prepared to turn down offers from Saudi Arabia to come and play in England ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.

Boro and Hull may not be the only teams in the race for the striker, though, as West Brom and QPR emerged as suitors for his signature earlier this summer.

The Baggies have already signed Barney Stewart from Falkirk this summer, but Dieng would be an upgrade on him, as well as being a better option than Strelec for Boro.

He outperformed his xG in one of Europe’s major leagues last season, hitting double figures for goals, and scored two more goals than Strelec from roughly four xG less.

His return of ten goals in Ligue 1 is also a better haul than Stewart has ever managed in his career, with his eight-goal haul in the Scottish Premiership for Falkirk last year being a career-high.

Dieng is more clinical than Strelec and would provide Lankshear with genuine competition for his place in the side as a quality and experienced centre-forward option, which could allow the club to cash in on the Slovakian forward.

The Senegal international could also offer a greater threat in front of goal than Stewart, given his goal output in one of Europe’s major league, which is also why he could be a fantastic signing for West Brom.

Boro appear to be on the front foot with these talks to sign the free agent, though, and could beat the Baggies to his signature, unless they decide to reignite their interest and open talks with him themselves.

It is now down to Hellberg to convince Dieng to make the move to the Riverside in the coming weeks, so that he can have a more reliable finisher in his squad than Strelec.