THERE'S been a transfer tweak behind the scenes at Middlesbrough, with Chris Jones promoted to become the club's head of recruitment.

Jones initially joined Boro in September of 2022 as head of scouting having previously worked with head of football Kieran Scott at Norwich City and Wolves.

Scott has previously told of how Jones is a "major cog" in Boro's recruitment and his new title is recognition of how his role has evolved over the course of the last 18 months,

It's also something of a reward for Jones' work on Teesside so far, which includes the summer recruitment of Morgan Rogers and Rav van den Berg.

Rogers was signed for just over £1m and sold just six months later for a deal potentially rising to £15m. Van den Berg, meanwhile, was much sought-after and wanted by several of Europe's biggest clubs in the summer but Boro won the race to sign the talented defender, who has enjoyed an outstanding first season on Teesside and looks destined to reach the top in the future.

Van den Berg continues to be monitored by a string of European clubs and Boro are understood to have held initial talks over a new and improved contract with the 19-year-old.

READ MORE:

Jones also played a key role in the capture of Emmanuel Latte Lath, who has had a promising first season, scoring nine goals despite injury disruptions, and Finn Azaz, who Boro have high hopes for, among others.

He was previously UK and international scout at Crystal Palace, lead domestic and European scout at Norwich and first team scout at Norwich after starting out at Wolves.

Scott previously said of Jones: "Chris is someone I've work with at previous clubs. He's what I call a proper scout. There's nothing he doesn't know about a player.

"If I was to pull a game up from 18 years ago in League Two and asked who scored the winning goal, he'd be able to tell you and the minute he scored.

"He's that type of guy. He's a very knowledgeable football person, he knows a lot of agents, he knows a lot of contacts at clubs. He brings a lot of experience, he's worked for a long time in the game.

"He drives standards. There's nowhere to hide with him, there'll be nowhere to hide for the scouting department.

"He will put a bit of accountability on everyone, including myself. We need that here, we need Chris to bring more people like him into the building. Chris is a major cog in what we want to do."