JONATHAN WOODGATE is not panicking about the lack of new players coming through the Middlesbrough doors so far, as Aden Flint edges closer to joining Cardiff City.

The centre-back is in South Wales to complete a move to the Bluebirds after Woodgate gave the move the go-ahead this week.

The 29-year-old no longer suits the way Woodgate is looking to get Middlesbrough player and the offer on the table was too attractive for someone of his age.

Cardiff are understood to be paying an initial fee of around £4m, but with clauses the price could rise to £6m. That would be around the figure he moved from Bristol City for just 12 months ago when he signed a four-year deal.

While Flint was a regular under Tony Pulis, who handed him 39 starts in the Championship, the towering defender recently admitted that he felt he was “diabolical” at times last season.

After a decent start, and still turning in occasional decent displays, he made a number of errors at the back while he didn’t provide the threat in the opposite penalty having promised so much early on. That said, though, Boro still had one of the best defensive records in the country.

Woodgate has promised to make new signings this summer to freshen up the squad and the money raised by the sale of Flint could help his own recruitment drive.

Only goalkeeper Tomas Mejias, who was previously at the club when he was signed by Aitor Karanka, has signed so far having been given a chance to re-sign for the club after Dimi Konstantopoulos and Andy Lonergan’s exits.

Woodgate has his own ideas in mind as to how he can improve things. Liverpool’s winger Ryan Kent, who is also wanted by Leeds and Aston Villa, is someone in his thinking but is rated in the £12m bracket.

The Middlesbrough boss, being linked again with Hull’s Kamil Grosicki, said: “We are looking for players but we won’t sign for the sake of it, we want the right ones to fit into the dressing room.

“We do want pace, we do need that. We still need it. There’s three weeks left, plenty of time. Let’s not rush, let’s get the right people in and I want to spend the chairman’s money wisely, not waste it.”

As head coach he knows that he must work within a new recruitment structure if he wants to target players.

He explained: “You have to go through recruitment, they have targets in mind, they look at this all years, we look at all the targets and what we can improve on.

“It is important that recruitment build a picture for us. I have to trust their view. They will do more work with watching a player than us and then we will discuss what we really want from that player, if he has those ingredients and then we will sign him.

“The chairman is the money man, he pays the contracts. But we all look at it and see if it can benefit the club long term as well as in the short term.”

Woodgate admitted that he will be looking at loan signings and permanents if the deals are right, with the opener with Luton Town fast approaching in two weeks’ time.