Next season, Middlesbrough is anticipated to contend for the Championship crown, and they have a busy summer ahead of them to make that happen.

As late in the season as mid-February, former Hammarby manager Kim Hellberg had Middlesbrough at the top of the standings before they eventually dropped to fifth.

After being restored into the play-offs following Southampton’s expulsion due to “spygate,” Borough went on to lose the play-off final to Hull City.

Hellberg will now be eager to assemble his own team after implementing an outstanding football style while working with a team that was assembled for Rob Edwards and may not have fully suited his style of play.

There will be a lot of action there, but they should try to avoid pursuing Divin Mubama, a young player from Manchester City, so Derby County can take the former Stoke City player on loan.

Divin Mubama is not what Middlesbrough should be searching for.

Middlesbrough and Derby are reportedly interested in acquiring Divin Mubama this summer, but “Borough, as wannabe title contenders, should make way and allow The Rams to sign him instead.”

Divin Mubama joined City in the summer of 2024 after graduating from West Ham United’s youth and making 12 first-team appearances.

He has one goal in two first-team games at City, but he had a mixed season when on loan at Stoke in the Championship.

His erratic and uneven stint with The Potters, with five goals in 26 games in the second division, did not necessarily make headlines.

While it’s true that a player signed by Manchester City who managed to score a few goals in a blatantly broken Stoke team shouldn’t be written off, Middlesbrough has good reason to look for other targets.

Middlesbrough will think they are not too far from being able to fire themselves into the Premier League because they were so close to promotion last year, both in the play-offs and the automatic race. Although Mubama may develop into a very good striker, “Borough should seek to find a more seasoned and reliable provider of goals next season.”

Tommy Conway and David Strelec need to be upgraded for Middlesbrough.

Middlesbrough supporters have misgivings about both Strelec and Conway, as does Hellberg himself, based on some of his team choices and the reported interest in Mubama.

Neither of these two talented and valuable players has necessarily reached the levels that their £6.5 million and £4.5 million transfer costs would have indicated when they relocated to the Riverside Stadium.

Last season, the two scored 19 goals together, with Morgan Whittaker scoring 14. It is reasonable to assume that Middlesbrough could advance if a player who could score 19 goals on his own could be found and signed.

Kyle Joseph, a forward from Hull City, has already signed with Middlesbrough. Despite the forward’s many new skills, such as his relentless running out of possession and ability to link play from the front, Hellberg may need to add more goalscoring experience to his strikeforce.

Mubama, on the other hand, might be a contributing player, but Middlesbrough should really be looking for a striker who will lead their fluid and frequently thrilling assault.

Particularly in light of Hayden Hackney’s eventual sale to Everton for an estimated £24 million, “Borough clearly should have funds to play with this summer and with a strong squad and spine, finding that decisive player in the final third will be paramount to their plans – and it would be a blessing in disguise if they allowed Derby to pinch Mubama from City ahead of them in order to focus on more of a finished article up front.”