Opinion: Middlesbrough could solve their left-footed defender puzzle by making summer transfer move for Luton Town man

After floundering in the early months of the 2021-22 season, Middlesbrough have definitely got their mojo back under Chris Wilder since his appointment in November 2021.

Some thought Neil Warnock’s sacking in favour of bringing Wilder to the Riverside was a harsh and premature decision, however Steve Gibson’s decision is proving to be a shrewd one.

Right now we have no idea where Boro will be plying their trade in 2022-23 – they could get into the play-off positions by the end of the season and get promoted to the Premier League that way, but if they don’t then it will be a sixth consecutive campaign in the second tier.

What we do know is though that Wilder will be targeting a specific type of player in the summer and that is a left-footed defender to bring some more balance to his back-line.

Right now, Wilder’s regular back three is Anfernee Dijksteel, Dael Fry and Paddy McNair – all right-footers – but when his Sheffield United side were at their peak in the Premier League he had Chris Basham and Jack O’Connell either side of John Egan as ‘overlapping centre-backs’, which have become a Wilder trademark.

Wilder is therefore missing an ‘O’Connell’ in his team right now, and he needs someone who is not only solid defensively but is good on the ball and can be effective in the final third.

If Boro stay in the Championship, then their man may be plying his trade currently at Kenilworth Road for Luton Town in the form of Kal Naismith.

When the Scot was playing for Portsmouth five years ago in League Two and scoring 15 goals in the 2016-17 season as a winger for them, Naismith probably wouldn’t have predicted that he’d become a centre-back by the time he was 30 years old.

He in-fact transitioned into a defender by the end of