Swansea City and Middlesbrough have both emerged as major automatic promotion candidates in the early stages of the Championship season, and one key move made by Borough could determine the result of both teams’ seasons.

Swansea started the season quickly, taking an early lead at the top of the second division, and while defeats to West Ham United, Queens Park Rangers, and Portsmouth have dampened expectations, Vitor Matos will be pleased with his team’s performance so far.

Middlesbrough, meantime, had an amazing summer transfer window, bringing in the likes of Will Lankshear, Ashley Phillips, Sebastian Berhalter, Radek Vitek, and Max Arfsten, to mention a few, and that good energy has spilt over onto the pitch, with Borough looking like the club to beat this year.

Both sets of fans will be pleased with their teams’ current performance, but things could have turned out very differently in the dugouts if one important choice had been made.

Swansea City expressed interest in appointing Kim Hellberg

Swansea had recently fired Alan Sheehan as head coach in November 2025, and they were looking for a replacement.

The Swans have previously looked across Europe for bright up-and-coming coaches, with Graham Potter joining the Welsh outfit from Sweden in 2018, and the Championship promotion contenders looked to repeat the trick by returning to Scandinavia, registering an interest in then-Hammarby boss Kim Hellberg.

Hellberg had worked his way up through the Swedish lower divisions to become one of the continent’s brightest young coaches, but despite conversations between Swansea and Hammarby, a Middlesbrough-sized stumbling block was thrown in the works.

Middlesbrough pounced on Kim Hellberg while Swansea City settled with Vitor Matos.

Around the same time, Middlesbrough had just lost their head coach, Rob Edwards, to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League following an amazing start to the Championship season, and they were looking for a new coach.

When Borough learned of Swansea’s interest in Hellberg, they acted quickly to sign the Swede, who chose to play on Teesside rather than Wales.

Borough paid a compensation fee of roughly £250,000 to bring Hellberg to the United Kingdom, in what remains his sole managerial appointment outside of Sweden, and while Swansea recovered, Borough may have the final laugh.

Middlesbrough and Swansea City look like Championship promotion contenders this season.

Despite losing Hayden Hackney, Matt Targett, and Morgan Whittaker over the summer, Middlesbrough appear better than ever, and under Hellberg, they’re playing some fantastic football, led by Will Lankshear’s goals.

Burnley and West Ham are suffering in the early parts of this season, leaving a space or two in the automatic promotion places, and Borough now appear to be the club to beat in the Championship.

Despite losing three of their previous four games, Swansea have played some of the greatest football in the division this season, with Vitor Matos’ high-press, high-tempo style of play, which was heavily influenced by Jürgen Klopp, proving to be a nightmare for certain opponents.

After missing out on Hellberg, Swansea switched their attention to Matos, who had previously worked as a coach for Liverpool and RB Salzburg but had taken his first steps as a head coach with Maritimo, from whom the Welsh club signed him.

In the end, Swansea appears to have done well in their search for their next head coach, but Boro’s decision to replace Hellberg could come back to haunt the Swans in May.

Middlesbrough’s management gamble can come back to hurt Swansea City.

With Middlesbrough and Swansea currently battling for automatic Championship slots, only time will tell who, if any, will win.

Swansea will be hoping it’s them rather than Middlesbrough for a variety of reasons, however the fact that Borough released Hellberg will undoubtedly play a role.

Hellberg has already shown to be a bargain for Middlesbrough for only £250,000, much to the chagrin of Swansea, who, while they have fallen in love with Matos, must feel some disdain for Borough right now, and may feel even more so come May 2027.