MIDDLESBROUGH have made progress on the transfer front this week which will be a huge boost for Chris Wilder but the Boro boss admits they’ve had to tread a fine line when it comes to overpaying for players this summer.

Boro have brought eight new players through the door with the latest arrival confirmed this morning in West Brom midfielder Alex Mowatt who has joined on a season long loan. With less than three weeks to go until the transfer window, more signings are expected to be made as Wilder looks to complete the look of his squad in his own vision.

With the transfer market this summer, there has been complicated obstacles to overcome with clubs keeping a tight grip on their players. However, inflated prices for players and the club being quoted large sums of money has also seen the club go through stagnant weeks without purchasing over the course of the summer.

The recent cash injection from the sales of Djed Spence and Marcus Tavernier will have boosted the coffers and given the club more spending power but the club are not prepared to run the risk of throwing money at deals just for the sake of getting new signings through the door whilst running the risk of Financial Fair Play on the long term security of the club.

A prime example at this point in time is the impasse between Boro and FC Groningen for a potential deal for Jorgen Strand Larsen. With Boro having lodged what they feel are appropriate bids for the 22-year-old Norwegian striker, Groningen are not willing to budge on their valuation despite Strand Larsen publicly declaring his desire to leave the club.

“We could have done ten deals by now, but we’d have overpaid” said the Boro boss “Some clubs do overpay, and then they have to deal with the consequences down the line.

“We could have been sat here where there wouldn’t have to be questions about recruitment because it would have all been done. But what have been done would have been overpaying and putting ourselves in a poor financial position and gambling massively our long-term future for immediate game.

“We could quite easily do that, break rules and then do this and do that to work your way around it. Dodge bullets here and cut corners there. You can’t do it, or you shouldn’t do it. We could have easily done it and the manager would be sat here saying, ‘brilliant, I’m alright. I’ve got what I want’.

“But, as we know, what happens, the consequences and the knock-on effect of the big gamble has to be picked up by an owner, and at this club the owner doesn’t want to do it that. Alternatively, somebody else picks it up or deals with the slack down the line and I don’t think that’s how a football club should be run.

“I am, possibly, the most important person in this situation. I could quite easily sit and say, ‘go on, go on, go on.’ Everything looks good and we get a result on Sunday and the week after. But eventually the wheels fall off and somebody else has to pick it up. I’m comfortable with the situation, and that’s the most important thing.”

The Northern Echo: Middlesbrough boss Chris Wilder watches his side in action.Middlesbrough boss Chris Wilder watches his side in action. (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

As reported by The Northern Echo in recent weeks, Boro are playing a cautious approach when it comes to Financial Fair Play which comes off the back of a resolution to their long running dispute with Derby County last season. There are plans to reinvest the sums accrued from the sales of Spence and Tavernier back into the club whilst a portion will go on the budget for recruitment.

During his time in charge of Halifax Town and Northampton, Wilder understands the full effects and the hardships of a clubs in financial ruin and having to cut their cloth just to stay afloat. Wilder managed to gain success with both clubs despite nearly falling into extinction but is well aware that usually isn’t the case.

“I’ve felt it before. People lose their jobs - people who have been working at the football club for 30-35 years” he continued. “Local contractors don’t get paid and go out of business. People get shafted. The football club then loses points, slides, relegation… Bang! Bang! Bang! I understand it.

“Supporters are happy at the time, and it’s maybe a slight criticism of how certain supporters sometimes think. They’re quite happy for everybody to spend and live in the moment.

“I remember the Portsmouth situation where they lived in that moment of winning the FA Cup and being in the UEFA Cup and having about 15 guys on £100 grand a week, in a ground that hold about 14-15,000 fans. That’s 14-15,000 really passionate supporters. But all of a sudden a bomb goes off beneath it and all of a sudden they’re in League One trying to get out of it.”

While there is a level headed approach to their business over the summer months, Wilder admits it doesn’t put any restraints on their aims as a football club to mount a promotion push this season with Chairman Steve Gibson continuing to back the club financially.

The Boro boss added: “There is no doubt in kind regarding Steve’s (Gibson) ambition and support. It doesn’t happen overnight and it doesn’t happen just because we want it to happen.

“We have to make it happen, and sometimes that means being patient and picking the right deals. I think everyone understands that myself and my coaching staff, we were brought here with the ambitions of where we wanted to take it.

“But it isn’t as easy as saying we want to be in the Premier League. There is a lot of work that has to go into that, and sometimes there are tough little periods that you’ve got to battle through and get through together and we’re battling through all on the same page.

“That’s the big thing for me, there are no different agendas and one person wanting to do one thing, and one person wanting to do another. We’ve all got the same agenda, the same vision, and the same plan. We want to bring quality players into the football club.

“We all believe we’re good coaches and managers, and I don’t think there is a lot of difference between us all at this level. Sometimes there is a bit of luck involved, some are better than others of course, some are a bit more experienced than others, but eight or nine times out ten it’s how good your players are and what quality you can get in, and how strong your squad is, with depth too.

“We all want to bring good players in and have a squad with good depth and good balance, and we all want to deliver that. Sometimes though, that can’t be done straight away. Sometimes you have to take a little bit of pain to get it where you want it to be. We’re just maybe having to take that little bit of pain at this particular moment, but we’re fighters, we all are, and we have to battle through this period.”