Aitor Karanka’s time at Middlesbrough was up after failed January transfer window

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Despite having one of the best defences in the league, the club failed to sign the attacking players Karanka craved.

It is not often a manager gets sacked after his team have conceded less goals than both Arsenal and Liverpool with around a quarter of the Premier League season to go, but that is what has happened to Middlesbrough’s Aitor Karanka.

The 43-year-old, who got Middlesbrough promoted, failed to win a league match in 2017 and yet the writing was on the wall regarding Karanka’s future after a diabolical January transfer window, which saw Boro miss out on their four key targets.

According to the Middlesbrough Gazette, Boro made huge efforts to sign Bojan Krkic from Stoke City, Jese Rodriguez from Paris Saint-Germain, Robert Snodgrass from Hull City and Gerard Deulofeu from Everton.

With goal-scoring a massive problem – Boro have scored 19 goals in 27 Premier League matches this season, six of which coming from Alvaro Negredo – it was essential that they signed at least one of those players to stand a chance.

However, Bojan went to Mainz 05, Snodgrass to West Ham United, Jese to Las Palmas and Deulofeu to AC Milan, meaning Boro’s only attacking signings were Rudy Gestede and Patrick Bamford.

Karanka got one thing right in that Boro’s defence is the fourth best in the league, but without any significant attacking threat, it is little wonder that a) they find themselves in the relegation zone, and b) Karanka got the chop.