IT IS, says Kieran Scott, a "long story", but it's definitely worth telling.

How did it come about that Rav van den Berg was on Boro's radar in the summer? And more to the point, how on earth did they sign him?

It's no exaggeration to say the Dutch defender was one of the most in-demand young players in Europe. AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Ajax, Juventus - they were all keen. And yet it was Boro who won the battle for the teenager last summer.

Scott first became aware of van den Berg years earlier. Boro's now head of football was at Norwich at the time and was keeping a close eye on Sepp van den Berg, who went on to join Liverpool.

"I remember his agent saying to me, 'you should see his brother!'," recalls Scott. Rav was barely a teenager at the time but it stuck in Scott's mind.

Roll forward half a decade or so and it was time for Scott and Boro to make their move. Chris Jones - now Boro's head of recruitment - had studied van den Berg and loved what he saw. But how could the talented defender be tempted to Boro with so many European giants circling?

"His agent is a really interesting fella," said Scott in conversation with the Twe12thman Podcast earlier this year.

"He could have taken him to 10 or 15 other clubs for a lot more money but he liked Middlesbrough, he liked the look and feel of it.

"We set a call up between Rav, the agent and Michael (Carrick) and Jonathan (Woodgate) and Michael and Jonathan just blew Rav away.

"He came off the call and the agent rang me straight away and said the guys have won him over. He said we had a little window before he got the calls from the so called bigger clubs, clubs like Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan.

"He said you've done your convincing, you just have to get the deal done and we did a really complicated deal in about 24 hours."

A wow moment soon followed.

"Within 15 minutes of his first training session, I knew we'd done alright," says Scott.

Two things happened - on and off the pitch - in the following weeks that told Scott and his fellow Boro officials and the club's coaches about the true measure of the young man they'd signed.

First of all, after agreeing to join Boro, van den Berg then set about calling all of the other clubs who'd shown an interest to explain his decision.

"You're talking big, big directors of football and chief execs at clubs like Dortmund, Juventus, Milan, Ajax. He rang them all himself to say why he chose Middlesbrough and thanks for their interest," says Scott.

Fast forward to the start of the season and early in van den Berg's debut he made a mistake that led to a Huddersfield goal in the Carabao Cup first round clash at the John Smith's Stadium. It was a nightmare start and yet the teenager shrugged it off and went on to put in the type of classy display that has become the norm this term.

"That kind of sums him up," says Carrick of van den Berg's response to that early error.

"You have to have that element of self-belief and bordering on football arrogance. I'm not a fan of someone who is arrogant but in football you have to have that ultimate belief in yourself. Things will go well, sometimes you might make mistakes but you have to overcome them, hence why I made him captain not long ago, because he's got that presence and assurance and for a young player that's pretty special to have."

READ MORE:

Van den Berg has worn the armband and started 28 of Boro's 38 league games. He signed a four-year contract when he joined last summer but he's been so impressive, talks about a new and improved deal have already taken place.

“I don’t think you can be anything but hugely impressed with Rav," says Carrick.

"His performances when you consider that he’s coming here from Holland at such a young age - new experiences, new club, new country, new way of living, new type of football. Then you consider he’s played right back for the first time in his life, he’s played left-back for the first time in his life, he’s played centre-back in a four and a three.

"He always handles himself so well and never really looks flustered. He looks composed. There is so much to be impressed by. His ability we kind of knew from our scouting and we believed we could help him get better. He’s developed an awful lot, but also he has that character and that desire to want to do well. He’s so keen to improve. He handles everything in a way that is credit to him.”

Could Carrick and Boro possibly have expected van den Berg to be so good so soon on Teesside?

“I think I said it before, your eye tells you certain things," said Carrick.

"We were really excited when we first saw him. Woody watched him a lot and he knows a bit more about defending than me!

"We all liked what we saw and when the opportunity came we were desperate to bring him to the club.

“From the start, he's been fantastic. He's been consistent, he's played different positions, I've said many times I don't think he's had a spectacular jump over the season, I think he's just been stable and level and there's been gradual improvement.

"Credit to him for that, it's not easy when you're a younger player. The future is exciting for him, as long as he keeps doing the right things and keeps his feet on the ground and stays in the right place, he's going in the right direction."