Middlesbrough signed as ex-Burnley striker becomes free agent: Opinion
As the 32-year-old striker becomes a free agent, Middlesbrough should take action.
The majority of Middlesbrough supporters would not have anticipated the start to the 2023–24 season going into the new campaign.
Following the appointment of Michael Carrick as manager in October of last year, Boro’s fortunes radically changed.
The club shot up the table, putting themselves in a favourable position for promotion. But Coventry City defeated them in two legs, so it wasn’t meant to be.
Boro entered this season as one of the early favourites for promotion due to their continued presence in the Championship.
‘On the pitch, though, things haven’t worked out that way; they are currently last in the standings and winless in the league.
Unfortunately for Carrick, Boro lost numerous important players throughout the course of the summer, either because they were sold or because the terms of their loans to the team had expired.
The fact that his squad is having trouble scoring goals—only three have been scored in the league so far—and that there has been a lot of turnover in recent months will be a major issue for Carrick.
In order to address their scoring issues, they therefore couldn’t go wrong by looking at the free agent market, and one player in particular may be a useful buy: ex-Burnley and Watford striker Andre Gray.
What is Andre Gray’s current situation?
Since joining Aris Saloniki on a free transfer from Watford last year, Grey has been playing his football in Greece.
Gray’s sudden status as a free agent, however, following their mutual decision to end his contract with the Greek team, has surprised many.
Last season, the forward scored 13 goals in 39 games for the team, but he is currently looking for his next team.
As he considers a potential return to England, there have been rumours that Championship teams are interested in the forward.
Since Grey has experience playing in the Championship, this choice should prompt a team like Middlesbrough to take action and try to sign the 32-year-old.
Why should Middlesbrough sign Andre Gray?
Losing Chuba Akpom, a forward who was crucial to the squad and a major reason they made the play-offs, was and will remain a major setback for Middlesbrough and Carrick.
Middlesbrough is having trouble scoring goals as a result of having to replace him with Emmanuel Latte Lath from Atalanta, who has little experience playing in the Championship.
When Carrick joined the team, Middlesbrough became a more offensively focused team, which helped them score more goals. This season, they haven’t maintained that, and regardless of who starts, they continue to struggle in front of goal.
Grey is currently a free agent, therefore Boro couldn’t go wrong by signing the knowledgeable forward to their roster.
The 2015–16 season was undoubtedly his best, despite the fact that the 32-year-old has several seasons of Championship experience under his credit.
The forward was effective at this level thanks to his all-around skill, scoring 23 goals in 41 appearances. According to WhoScored.com, that season, he averaged 2.7 shots and 0.9 dribbles per game, which led to just under one foul per game for him.
Grey didn’t play much that season; he only averaged 13.7 passes per game, but 0.8 of those were important passes, according to WhoScored.com, which led to eight assists from him.
Of course, it was seven years ago; Grey won’t be the same kind of player now, but he just showed at QPR that he is still capable of scoring goals at this level, and he has done so in Greece as well.
Grey may not be the most eye-catching addition, but Carrick couldn’t really go wrong by making him part of his frontline in an effort to increase his team’s scoring chances.
