CHRIS WILDER has not ruled out making further additions this month, but the Middlesbrough manager admits his club’s focus remains on trying to move on some of the fringe performers that have been made available for transfer.

Boro have made four signings this month, recruiting Riley McGree and Caolan Boyd-Munce on a permanent basis and also securing loan deals for Aaron Connolly and Folarin Balogun.

So far, Onel Hernandez is the only player to have departed, with his loan deal from Norwich being cancelled in order for him to join Birmingham City, but Wilder has confirmed Uche Ikpeazu, Marcus Browne and James Lea-Siliki have all been told they can move on. While Josh Coburn will not be leaving on a permanent basis this month, there is a good chance the youngster will join a League One club on loan in order to increase his chance of game time.

Browne is understood to be in advanced talks with Charlton, while Ikpeazu’s former club, Wycombe, are known to be interested in striking a deal for the striker, and Wilder expects a fair amount of movement before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.

“There’s ongoing talks with Kieran (Scott), the players’ representatives, the players and potential clubs they could join,” said the Boro boss. “Obviously, it’s coming towards the back end of the window, so outs are important.

“We have to balance books and be smart in terms of the outgoings and the incomings matching up. We’ve invested in a permanent in Riley, although we certainly didn’t blow anybody out of the water to do that, and we’ve brought in the two young lads (Connolly and Balogun) whose clubs wanted them to come to us for footballing reasons. Off the back of that, we’ve got to balance things up and decisions have to be made.

“We’re still trying to improve as well, but I don’t want a bloated squad. I want to be managing 23 or 24 players, with three goalkeepers, that gives us really good competition for places, a balance of left and right-footers, and good options. Hopefully, when the window shuts, we’ll be in a much better place than when it opened. Personally, I think we’re well on the way to having that window.”