Opinion: Middlesbrough must hold firm as transfer interest emerges from Bournemouth for key figure

Having narrowly missed out on a place in the play-offs earlier this month, Middlesbrough will be hoping to move forward as a club under the guidance of manager Chris Wilder later this year.

Despite showing some real signs of promise in the Championship, Boro experienced a dip in form at a crucial stage of the 2021/22 campaign.

Middlesbrough will be keen to learn from the mistakes that they made last season as they aim to emerge as legitimate contenders from promotion next season.

In order to have the best chance of challenging for a top-two finish, Boro will need to draft in some individuals in the upcoming transfer window who have a proven track-record of delivering the goods at this level.

The Championship outfit will also have to keep some of their key players at the Riverside Stadium.

One of the individuals who has recently been linked with a move away from Middlesbrough is Marcus Tavernier.

According to a report from The Sun, AFC Bournemouth are reportedly interested in signing the 23-year-old.

The Cherries will be able to offer Tavernier the opportunity to play in the top-flight as they achieved automatic promotion alongside Fulham last season.

If Bournemouth opt to step up their pursuit by submitting a bid for Tavernier next month, Boro will need to hold firm as they will not want to lose the midfielder.

During the previous term, Tavernier demonstrated his versatility in the Championship as he lined up in a number of different positions for Middlesbrough.

Directly involved in 10 goals in 44 league games, Tavernier will be determined to exceed this total next season if he stays at the club.

The midfielder also made 2.2 tackles per fixture and completed 36.9 passes per game at this level as he recorded a respectable