Chris Wilder believes Zack Steffen is a coup signing for Middlesbrough as he closes in on loan

Chris Wilder believes Middlesbrough have pulled off a coup this summer in convincing Zack Steffen to join them on loan from Manchester City. The USA international goalkeeper is having a medical this weekend to finalise his move to the club.

The 27-year-old will join Boro on loan for the season after telling Manchester City that he needed to play games this season with his place in the national team under threat due to his lack of game time at the Etihad. And that can spell good news for Boro, with the keeper arriving while hungry to impress with the World Cup approaching.

There has had to be a little patience to get this deal completed due to a wait for Steffen's work permit application to be granted. But with that now in place, Steffen is expected to be officially announced as a Boro player in the coming days. Asked about his impending arrival, Wilder was clearly delighted to get his man and tick a box on one area of the team that's undergone a lot of work this summer.

Middlesbrough close in on fourth summer signing as Zack Steffen's Man City loan nears completion

The Boro boss said of his soon-to-be fourth signing of the summer: “When we looked at it when we first came in, we knew we had to improve the goalkeeping department. We’ve brought in Liam Roberts who is going to prove a really good acquisition for us, and now we’re adding Zack Steffen who recently just signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with Man City.

"Man City don’t hand out four-and-a-half-year contracts if they don’t think anything of them. Everyone knows his situation, he needed to play because of the World Cup. He had an agreement with Man City, but he could have easily stayed there and sat comfortably as their number two.

"He wanted to go out and he’s