Middlesbrough

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Middlesbrough have won the race to sign Aston Villa defender Finley Munroe.

The 20-year-old is expected to sign a long-term deal at the Riverside after Boro agreed a deal of around £300,000 with Villa.

Bristol City also made an offer but the left-back is heading to the north east, with the deal also including a large sell-on fee.

Munroe will become Boro's second January signing after midfielder Leo Castledine joined the Championship promotion hopefuls from Chelsea last week.

He was recalled from his loan at Swindon on Monday ahead of his expected permanent move from Villa Park.

Munroe made 27 appearances for Swindon, scoring twice, with Ian Holloway's side second in League Two and five points behind leaders Bromley.

He joined Villa after leaving Chelsea's academy in 2021 and made two senior appearances for the club.

His debut came as a late substitute in the Europa Conference League semi-final defeat at Olympiakos, before coming on in the Premier League against Crystal Palace in May 2024.

They came after he signed a new contract while he spent last season on loan at Real Union, Villa's sister club in Spain.

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Middlesbrough and Bristol City have made offers for Aston Villa defender Finley Munroe.

The Championship pair are fighting to sign the left-back who has been on loan at Swindon this season.

The Robins' bid is around £350,000, with Boro's offer around the same and includes a sell-on clause.

A move from Villa Park could be finalised this week as Munroe was recalled by Villa on Monday.

Munroe has made 27 appearances for Swindon, scoring twice, with Ian Holloway's side second in League Two, five points behind leaders Bromley.

The 20-year-old joined Villa after leaving Chelsea's academy in 2021.

He has made two senior appearances, making his debut as a late substitute in the Europa Conference League semi-final defeat at Olympiakos, before coming on against Crystal Palace in May 2024.

They came after he signed a new contract while he spent last season on loan at Real Union, Villa's sister club in Spain.

Pundits Dion Dublin and Rob Green join host Jason Mohammad to bring you the action and talking points from Friday and Saturday's FA Cup ties.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Wrexham 3-3 (4-3 pens) Nottingham Forest

• Preston North End 0-1 Wigan

• Macclesfield Town 2-1 Crystal Palace

• Everton 1-1 (0-3 pens) Sunderland

• Wolves 6-1 Shrewsbury Town

• Fulham 3-1 Middlesbrough

• Manchester City 10-1 Exeter City

• Newcastle 3-3 (7-6 pens) Bournemouth

• Stoke City 1-0 Coventry City

• Tottenham 1-2 Aston Villa

• Bristol City 5-1 Watford

• Cambridge United 2-3 Birmingham City

• Charlton 1-5 Chelsea

There are 18 third-round ties in the FA Cup on Saturday - 16 involving Premier League and Championship teams, who all enter the competition at this stage - and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Cheltenham v Leicester (12:15) - BBC Radio Leicester

• Everton v Sunderland (12:15) - BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2

• Macclesfield v Crystal Palace (12:15) - BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 5 Live & BBC Radio Manchester

• Wolves v Shrewsbury (12:15) - BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 3 & BBC Radio WM

• Boreham Wood v Burton Albion

• Burnley v Millwall - BBC Radio London

• Doncaster v Southampton - BBC Radio Solent

• Fulham v Middlesbrough - BBC Radio 5 Live

• Ipswich v Blackpool - BBC Radio Suffolk

• Man City v Exeter City - BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Newcastle v Bournemouth - BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2 & BBC Radio Newcastle

• Salford P-P Swindon

• Sheff Wed v Brentford

• Stoke v Coventry - BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 3, BBC Radio Stoke & BBC Radio CWR

• Bristol City v Watford (17:45) - BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Radio Bristol and BBC Three Counties Radio

• Cambridge United v Birmingham (17:45) - BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2

• Grimsby v Weston (17:45)

• Tottenham v Aston Villa (17:45) - BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio London

• Charlton v Chelsea (20:00) - BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio London

Kick-off times 15:00 GMT unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

And find out how to follow the FA Cup across the BBC this weekend here

You can also listen to today's 5 Live commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Fulham v Middlesbrough" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Tottenham v Aston Villa", for instance.

Find out more about how to listen to football on BBC Sounds

It will be interesting to see what Fulham boss Marco Silva does here, with his team on such a good run of Premier League results. I hope he goes strong, to try to keep their momentum going.

Silva has good record in the FA Cup anyhow, reaching the quarter-final twice in the past three years. He has also never lost a third-round tie with any of the four English clubs he has managed, and I don't see that changing this weekend.

Middlesbrough got back on track with a big win over Southampton on Sunday but they hit a sticky patch over Christmas when their goals dried up and it is pretty obvious that their promotion bid will be the priority for their manager Kim Hellberg.

Sutton's prediction: 2-0

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Bristol City are keen on Middesbrough's Dutch forward Delano Burgzorg, 27. (Northern Echo - via subscription, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Friday's gossip column here.

Middlesbrough defender Adilson Malanda says he has modelled his game on centre-backs Thiago Silva and Raphael Varane.

The 24-year-old was named player of the match in his long-awaited Boro debut during the 4-0 win over Southampton at the Riverside on Sunday.

Malanda signed from US side Charlotte FC in the summer but was immediately loaned back until the end of the MLS season, though he wasted no time in making a positive impression once he pulled on a Boro shirt.

He made more blocks (10) than any other player on the pitch against the Saints, four of which crucially stopped goalbound shots, most notably from Flynn Downes and Adam Armstrong.

"I'm really enjoying it, really pleased to be here and fully part of it now," Malanda told BBC Radio Tees.

"I want to thank the fans for the welcome because it was a great atmosphere to feel for a first game. Just really happy that it turned out this way for us.

"The most important thing was to get back to winning after those few results [four without a win]. The team was ready for it and I'm really happy that it turned out in a good way."

When asked who he looks up to as a defender, Malanda said: "Obviously Thiago Silva, he likes to defend, stand, never goes down, or rarely.

"Varane a little bit. I have quite a few of them, just taking from everyone."

Malanda described the Championship as "one of the most exciting leagues in the world" and said he was desperate to start playing.

"I had a chance to speak a little bit with the boys over there [in the US] and they told me it was a tough league, really intense, the duels and you can face really different teams," he added.

Hull City are set to sign 31-year-old former QPR keeper Seny Dieng once he has negotiated his release by Middlesbrough. (Hull Daily Mail, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Thursday's gossip column here.

Middlesbrough are planning to test the resolve of Championship promotion rivals Hull City with a move for star defender Charlie Hughes, who could cost £10m. (Football League World, external)

Boro are also keen on signing Ecuador international winger Jeremy Sarmiento on loan from Brighton, if the Seagulls cut short the 23-year-old's unsuccessful loan at Serie A Cremonese. Sarmiento has been promoted from the Championship during loans with Ipswich and Burnley in the past two seasons. (Teesside Live, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Wednesday's gossip column here.

Image source, Shutterstock

Middlesbrough head coach Kim Hellberg says the "belief" of his players was vital to ending their festive Championship wobble.

Boro had gone four games without a win or a goal before they hit four in 22 second half minutes to sweep aside Southampton.

The result saw them climb back above Ipswich Town into second and for Hellberg, it was vindication of plugging away.

The Teessiders had managed 80 shots and averaged almost 66% possession in accruing a single point from those four previous games before their luck turned against the sorry Saints.

Hellberg told BBC Radio Tees: "It was a well deserved win. It was a very good second half, a lot of goals and a message of belief and keep doing the things that we've done and that will give you results over time.

The win took Middlesbrough above Ipswich Town into second place and within six points of leaders Coventry City on a positive afternoon for Hellberg and his players.

The Swede added: "The intensity, how the players trained and worked every day at the training ground, how they are with each other and how they worked with their body language even in tough periods in terms of not getting results and the frustration of playing that type of football and not getting the wins or points from that, it shows the belief in the players in how they kept going."

Middlesbrough head coach Kim Hellberg spoke to BBC Radio Tees after Thursday's 1-0 defeat at Derby County.

"It was unbelievable winning the first four games, having that start. But then getting one point from the next four and not scoring, creating a lot of chances, playing a lot of good football and goalkeepers being the man of the matches almost every game, that hurts," he said.

"Looking at the table, we are back to the same position when we started eight games ago and that hurts also. The result today hurt.

"Look at the bigger picture over those four games and we scored no goals and we created tons of opportunities to score. At the moment we are not good enough at scoring and we have to be honest with that.

"But we cannot just say 'it's not going our way'. It's not, but we have to find a way and get better at those things.

"I go into the locker room and see devastated players. They know it too, they put this on their shoulders. I need to find a way to help them better, that is my job and that's my aim."

Image source, Opta

Derby County will aim to keep in touch with the Championship play-off places when they welcome promotion-chasing Middlesbrough on New Year's Day (15:00 GMT kick-off).

The Rams are 14th and six points behind the top six after a run of just one win in seven games (D3 L3).

Boro missed the chance to close the gap to leaders Coventry with a 1-0 defeat to Hull on Monday night and remain eight points behind, while they are two clear of Ipswich and Hull in third and fourth respectively.

Kim Hellberg won his first four games in charge of Boro, but is now without victory in the past three (D1 L2).

• Derby County are unbeaten in each of their past five home league games against Middlesbrough (W3 D2), since a 2-1 Championship defeat in April 2018.

• Middlesbrough came from behind to beat Derby County 2-1 back in November and could now complete a league double over the Rams for the first time since 2014-15 under Aitor Karanka.

• Derby County have lost their past three league games played on New Year's Day, last avoiding defeat on the opening day of the year in 2019, a 1-1 home draw with Middlesbrough.

• Including 2026, eight of Middlesbrough's previous nine league matches on New Year's Day have come away from home, losing just one of the previous seven on the road (W3 D3).

• Middlesbrough's Morgan Whittaker has been directly involved in six goals in three league appearances on New Year's Day (2 goals, 4 assists), more than any other player in the EFL since 2023.

Middlesbrough head coach Kim Hellberg is frustrated that his side have gone three games without scoring, after they lost 1-0 at home to Hull City tonight.

He told BBC Radio Tees: "Making a game look like this and coming away without any points - that's not good enough. At the moment we're not scoring any goals, and we have to be honest with that - we're not good enough in those moments.

"You can look at the last three games, not scoring a goal from something like 70 shots. That's not good enough so we have to work with that part.

"Sometimes the ball just doesn't want to go in, but you also have to look at the quality in the finishing, how we get players in the best positions to finish, and that's what I have to look at.

"We had 23 shots, and they had one shot on target and made it count."