MIDDLESBROUGH have completed the signing of wing-back Ryan Giles on a season-long loan from Wolves.

Giles’ signing should be quickly followed by confirmation of the capture of Darragh Lenihan, who is joining as a free agent following the end of his contract at Blackburn Rovers.

The pair will join goalkeeper Liam Roberts, who was confirmed as Boro’s first summer signing earlier this week after turning down the offer of a new deal at his previous club, Northampton Town.

Giles has been lined up as Boro’s new left wing-back for next season, with his athleticism and attacking ability viewed as a perfect complement to Isaiah Jones, who will continue to fill the wing-back role on the opposite flank.

Left-back was something of a problem position for Boro last season, with Marc Bola struggling to hold down a place under Chris Wilder. Neither Neil Taylor nor Lee Peltier were offered new deals when their previous contracts expired.

Giles is a product of Wolves’ youth set-up, and has had six separate loan spells since signing his first professional contract at Molineux in 2018.

The 22-year-old spent the first half of last season on loan at Cardiff City, starting 21 matches and claiming a league-high total of nine assists.

However, he was recalled to Wolves at the start of January, ending his loan spell at the Cardiff City Stadium, only to subsequently be sent out on another loan deal to Blackburn for the second half of the campaign.

An England Under-20 international, he made 11 Championship appearances for Rovers between February and May, with his performances catching the eye of a number of clubs.

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He is contracted to Molineux until the summer of 2025, but while Bruno Lage regards him as a hugely exciting long-term prospect, the Wolves boss feels another spell of regular first-team football in the Championship will be beneficial to his development.

Boro faced considerable competition to secure his signature, with Cardiff and Blackburn both having made attempts to re-sign him this summer.  

With Chris Wilder’s squad back in pre-season training, Giles will link up with his new team-mates immediately and should be joined by Lenihan in the next couple of days.

The former Blackburn skipper rejected the offer of a new deal at Ewood Park in order to move to Boro, and was one of Wilder’s key summer targets.

The 28-year-old centre-half has amassed considerable Championship experience, and also boasts the kind of leadership skills Wilder has been looking to add to his squad.

The Boro boss is overseeing a major summer overhaul, with another goalkeeper and at least two new centre-forwards key priority areas.

Newcastle United duo Karl Darlow and Dwight Gayle are targets at either end of the field, with Boro also having held talks over Coventry City striker Viktor Gyokeres.

“There’ll be all different types of signings,” said Wilder, whose side are gearing up for their opening pre-season game at Northern League side Bishop Auckland a week tomorrow.

“There’ll be ones that will really catch the eye, there’ll be ones like the new contract for Jonny Howson which are really important ones for the group, and then there’ll be ones like Liam Roberts, which are maybe a little bit more from leftfield.

"They might be a little bit more under the radar, but they’re important in terms of giving us the depth we need in the squad.

“There’ll be two or three others we need like that because we’re not going to be able to sign an entire squad of guaranteed starters or marquee signings into the building straight away.

"There’ll be more of those type of signings, but there’ll also be players coming in that are ready to go straight into the first team and that will make us better.

“We’ve been working extremely hard on those sorts of players through the back end of last season and right through the summer. I think what we did last season helped with that because it upped our profile with players and agents.

"Players want to come, and see us as a progressive club in terms of the way we play and the results we’ve had.”