UPDATED NEWS: Middlesbrough are close to completing a deal to sign left-back star player before the transfer deadline.

Middlesbrough appear to be close to signing SC Cambuur’s Alex Bangura.

Middlesbrough are negotiating a deal to recruit Alex Bangura from SC Cambuur before the transfer deadline on Friday.

According to sources in the Netherlands, Cambuur, a second-tier Dutch club, has accepted Boro’s bid for the left-back, who is reportedly on his way to Teesside to conclude the deal. He had only a year left on his deal with the Dutch club.

The 24-year-old had been connected with Boro earlier this summer, although the club was pursuing a deal for Lukas Engel at the time. However, after assessing their alternatives in the early weeks of the season, Boro’s recruitment team determined that another was still required and will sign Bangura to compete with Engel.What this implies for Hayden Coulson is unknown. After three loan spells in the previous two seasons, he returned to the club this summer and was given a new two-year contract before rejoining Michael Carrick’s side. But, after failing to impress and obviously falling farther down the pecking order, it’s unclear whether he’ll leave before Friday’s deadline. He has missed the previous two games with a thigh injury.

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Bangura, a Sierra Leone international, stated earlier this summer that he believed the time had come to leave Cambuur following their relegation from the Eredivisie. Bangura was one of the most inventive full-backs in the Dutch top division after being converted from a winger to a left-back.

Bangura is said to have had interest in his services from all around Europe this summer, but it was always assumed that he preferred a move to England. He turned down a move to Feyenoord last summer in order to continue his development at Cambuur.