ADAMA TRAORE does not want to lose the raw pace and power that make him such an exciting attacking prospect – but the Middlesbrough winger accepts he will have to adapt his game if he wants to succeed in the Premier League.

Traore has made a major impression in his eight appearances in a Boro shirt, and last weekend, the 20-year-old completed more dribbles in his side’s 2-2 draw at Leicester than any other top-flight player had managed in a single game for more than five seasons.

When it comes to running at defenders, the Spaniard is as daunting an opponent as anyone in the Premier League, but while his head coach, Aitor Karanka, is an admirer of his attacking talents, there are parts of the youngster’s game that are not as well-honed.

“It is normal that everybody is excited when he has the ball,” said Karanka recently. “But he has the ball three or four minutes in one game, and the rest of the game is 87 minutes, so we have to be careful.”

When it comes to delivering compliments, they don’t come much more back-handed than that.

Karanka’s publicly-expressed concerns mirror what he has been saying to Traore in private, and having struggled to make any kind of a breakthrough at his previous club, Aston Villa, the former Barcelona winger is ready to take on board any criticism before adapting his game accordingly.

“I had a long chat with Aitor Karanka a couple of weeks ago, and he told me I needed to work on my tactics and the way I sometimes play the game because, here in England, it is different to Spain,” said Traore, who signed a four-year deal when he completed a £4m move from Villa Park in August.

“I know I have to do different things here. If the team is playing on the counter-attack, then I know I have to go back and defend. The manager has spoken with me about that a few times.

“At Barcelona, it was probably a bit different. There wasn’t as much focus on defending and doing your job when you did not have the ball. Aitor Karanka was speaking to me a lot before I started, pointing out these things.

“He takes me to one side a lot, and tells me the things that he wants me to work on. That is good for me, and I am happy he does that.

“It is important for me to learn from what he tells me, and it will help me improve my game. I don’t want to become a totally different player, but I know there are things I have to improve when I am on the pitch.”

That realisation is borne of both an assessment of his time at Aston Villa, when all 11 of his Premier League appearances came as a substitute, and a reflection of his Middlesbrough career so far, which has seen Karanka refuse to get too carried away by the more eye-catching aspects of Traore’s play.

The winger has had the fans on their feet on a number of occasions, but is still to score his first goal for Boro and has not even been a regular supplier of assists.

“I think my style of play is a little bit different,” he said. “I like to go past people and try to do skills, then if it is possible, look to cross the ball or score.

"I think that can be exciting, but the most important thing is that I am also working hard and playing for the team to win. That is the always the most important thing.”

Traore was always extremely highly-rated at Barcelona, where he made more than 60 appearances for the Catalan club’s B team in the Segunda Division.

His La Liga debut came at the age of 17, and saw him come off the bench to replace Neymar, while his first appearance in the Champions League saw him come on for Cesc Fabregas as Barcelona took on Ajax.

He was expected to be a huge success at Aston Villa, but while he moved to the Midlands for €10m, it quickly became apparent that his face was not going to fit in a side that was careering towards the Championship.

“It was a difficult situation,” said Traore. “I knew I would be moving to a different country with a different language, but it was something I wanted to do.

"It was a difficult decision – I could have stayed at Barcelona, but I thought I needed to be playing for the first team in a top division so I could learn and improve.

“It was a difficult time for me because I didn’t play and Aston Villa ended up going into the Championship. It was a difficult moment for everyone there, but I was learning a lot.

“I kept on working hard because I knew an opportunity would come, and now that opportunity has come here at Middlesbrough. I was prepared for it.

"If I hadn’t worked so hard last season at Aston Villa, I wouldn’t have been able to do as well here. That is what I was always working for.”