GEORGE FRIEND expects Middlesbrough new boy Marten de Roon to make a big impression in the Premier League next season, and is hoping his club’s ongoing recruitment drive delivers more big names ahead of the start of the new campaign.

Gaston Ramirez completed his permanent move to the Riverside by signing a three-year deal after his new work permit was confirmed, and Boro head coach Aitor Karanka remains confident of adding both Alvaro Negredo and Neven Subotic to the ranks in the next few days.

Rumours that Negredo was set to undergo a medical at Rockliffe Park yesterday proved unfounded, and the Spaniard is still expected to link up with the Boro squad at their training camp at Marbella rather than travel to England.

The terms of a season-long loan from Valencia have been agreed, with Boro chairman Steve Gibson having successfully pushed for a €10m clause that can be triggered at the end of the loan deal if all parties are in agreement.

Subotic has also agreed to join Boro from Borussia Dortmund, although the transfer will not be ratified until the Serbian centre-half has secured a work permit. As was the case with Ramirez, Boro might have to mount a successful appeal if they are to land the 27-year-old, who did not feature in any of his nation’s qualifying games for Euro 2016.

De Roon is Boro’s most expensive summer signing to date, having completed an £11.75m move from Italian side Atalanta at the start of the month, and the Dutch midfielder has already caught the eye in the Teessiders’ opening pre-season games.

A tall, athletic central midfielder, he will compete with Adam Clayton and the injured Grant Leadbitter for a place in Boro’s first-choice starting XI, and looks ideally suited to the physical demands of English football.

“It looks like English football will suit him, and he’s fitted in nicely with the rest of the group too,” said Friend, who is set to skipper Boro at the start of the season in the absence of Leadbitter. “He keeps it quite simple I think, but it’s not easy to do that.

“He’s a very effective player in the role he plays, and he’s going to be great to have here. He’s a very switched-on guy, very level-headed, and he could be a great addition.”

With Viktor Fischer, Bernardo Espinosa, Victor Valdes and Antonio Barragan also having moved to Middlesbrough this summer, the Teessiders have been one of the busiest clubs in any of Europe’s leading leagues.

Karanka was always adamant he wanted to get as much of his summer transfer business completed before the start of the season as possible, and while the influx of new arrivals will almost certainly mean some of last season’s key men find themselves on the substitutes’ bench, Friend claims there is an acceptance that new signings were required in the wake of winning promotion to the top-flight.

“There’s definitely an excitement there with the signings and getting the squad to gel,” said the full-back. “It’s coming along nicely, and I’m sure there’ll be a few more new faces to come.

“We’re all realistic. Everyone who came up with the club realises that you have to bring in added quality. I’m not saying you have to bring in quality because we already had quality, but you need to add even more quality to an already good group.

“It’s about getting the right characters as well as the right footballers. I think our recruitment team have been excellent leading up to the Premier League, and now we’re here I’m sure they’ll continue to do good work.”