What Claudio Ranieri and his guys did last season was something for the history books. It seemed impossible at the time, and it’s still hard to believe someone could pull another league upset like Leicester City did. And yet, we’ve seen lightning strike the same place twice before when it comes to soccer. So, here is the team that could surprise and come out on top when the curtains close: Middlesbrough.
They are fresh off a runner-up spot in the Championship and have Jose Mourinho’s buddy Aitor Karanka leading from the sidelines. If any team can deliver on being a surprise like Leicester was last season, it is Middlesbrough.
The odds are, indeed, not in their favor.
A little perspective: according to Bet Stars, the Smoggies have the same chance of winning the Premier League title as Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City has of being relegated. Talk about a long shot, right?
And still, Karanka splashed some serious cash this summer to make sure his team would be up for any challenge.
They managed to sign (for free) two experienced reinforcements in Victor Valdes and Alvaro Negredo. Both of the Spaniards will be looking to bounce back from some major slides in their careers.
Valdes will finally be able to play in the Premier League regularly after tasting the sourness of the bench behind David De Gea at Manchester United. He also had a shy loan stint in Belgium with Standard Liège. Now, back on English soil, he’ll finally get his chance to prove he can perform at the Premier League level.
Negredo is also coming off a rather bad season by his standards. He finished the 2015-16 season with only 12 goals scored in 40 matches played for Valencia. His season was so bad it got to the point where he was held scoreless in eight consecutive La Liga matches.
Just like Valdes, Negredo will have in Middlesbrough the opportunity to prove that he can still perform at a high level.
So far he has managed just that, scoring in the Smoggies’ season opener against Stoke City.
Besides the two free arrivals, Middlesbrough spent more than €22 million on three new signings. The most expensive was Dutch midfielder Marten de Roon from Atalanta.
De Roon will provide a strong reinforcement to Karanka’s midfield. The 25-year-old can certainly pass the ball and deliver some key balls to the forwards, but his presence will be mostly felt when Middlesbrough is defending.
De Roon is one of those players who loves to tackle and hates to lose a challenge. You can certainly expect more fouls than usual when he’s around, but, in turn, the opposition will not have an easy time getting past this €15 million man.
The second most expensive signing Middlesbrough made this summer probably went under many people’s radar. But don’t be fooled, it might just prove to be the surprise of the season in the Premier League.
Danish winger Viktor Fischer has the skillset to succeed in the Premier League. The 22-year-old from Ajax is an avid dribbler who can get past any defenders and often terrorized fullbacks in the Dutch League.
He can hold the ball well, cut inside and deliver key passes for the main strikers as well as put the ball in the back of the net when the opportunity arises. Fischer finished his final season with Ajax with eight goals and three assists in the Eredivisie.
Premier League defenders will surely be more of a challenge than he's used to, but if Karanka manages to find the right spot for Fischer to shine, this youngster could potentially repeat what Riyad Mahrez did last season.
