Tarmo Kink Deal Boosts Middlesborough’s Title Hopes
Middlesbrough FC manager Gordon Strachan has spoken of his delight after he secured the services of Estonia international footballer Tarmo Kink. The versatile 24 year-old has joined the Football League Championship outfit on a three-year deal from Hungarian top-flight side Gyori ETO for a fee of one million euros (£835,000). Strachan had been long keeping tabs on the attacker, who can play on the left of the midfield or as a striker, and becomes Boro’s sixth summer signing.
The boss has said he is looking forward to having Kink as part of his squad, with the player expected to link up with his new teammates next week after they return from a preseason trip to Germany.
Strachan told the club’s official website that he was “delighted” to get his man. He said: "We've watched him on quite a few occasions and always liked what we saw. He's a good ball player and he's got a good left foot. He's had a virus which has knocked him back a bit but he starts training with us next week and he should be fully recovered by then."
Kink began his career at Estonian club FC Levadia, where he played 45 games and scored 15 goals. He also netted 35 times in 80 appearances for Gyori and had a short spell at Russian club Spartak Moscow on loan.
Squad overhaul
Strachan’s overhaul of Boro’s squad has seen his club named as favourites for the championship titles in many quarters, and the capture of Kink will lend further credence to those claims. The former boss of Scottish Premier League (SPL) team Celtic has been at the helm of Boro since October 2009, when Gareth Southgate was dismissed, despite the club sitting at fourth place in the league. Strachan did not manage to continue the side’s title ambitions and finished the season down in 11th place, their lowest league finish for 16 years. However, with a complete restructuring of the playing squad at his disposal, Smoggies fans are optimistic they will gain promotion to the English Premier League this season.
The manager has raided his former club, securing the services of some of Celtic’s top players. In the January transfer window, Strachan lost the talented Adam Johnson to Manchester City but also managed to recruit Aberdeen striker Lee Miller, along with four of his former Celtic charges: strikers Scott McDonald and Chris Killen, as well as former Dundee United midfield pair Barry Robson and Willo Flood. Of this quartet, Robson has proven to be perhaps the biggest success so far, scoring five times in 18 appearances. Strachan also snapped up Celtic captain and Scotland defender Stephen McManus on loan for the remainder of the season, and made the move permanent this summer in a £1.5 million transfer.
Boyd key to championship ambitions
This close season has seen Strachan return to the Scottish game to snap up some of the country’s top talents. He managed to sign young Livingston winger Andrew Halliday, and raided Celtic’s bitter rivals Rangers for midfielder Kevin Thomson and Kris Boyd – who is perhaps the key to Boro’s title ambitions.
Despite concerns over his work rate, Kris Boyd proved an enormous success at Ibrox. The life-long Rangers supporter joined the Glasgow club from Kilmarnock FC in 2006. He became a goal machine, always seeming to find the right spot to grab a goal or two in most games. By the end of his time at Ibrox, he had become the SPL’s all-time leading goalscorer with 164 goals in total and led Rangers' scoring charts every season he was there. In the end, the 26 year-old had scored 101 goals in 143 games for the current SPL champions. It is this scoring record that piqued Strachan’s interest, with the manager stating upon his arrival: "We have one of the best (strikers) in Europe - that's fact. If you give him the chances, he will score goals.”
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