Garry Monk is reportedly keen to link up with Kyle Bartley at Middlesbrough after working together at Swansea City and Leeds United.
New Middlesbrough manager Garry Monk
It appears that Garry Monk holds the keys to Kyle Bartley’s future. The manager gave the towering centre-back his opportunity at Swansea City, brought him to Leeds United on loan and now appears to be making him his top transfer target at Middlesbrough, as reported by the Northern Echo.
The report adds that Swansea boss Paul Clement is keen to run the rule over the highly-rated defender after his excellent season at Elland Road. But Boro boss Monk is hopeful that he can convince the Premier League club into a sale this summer.
Leeds will miss Kyle Bartley
This all makes Leeds’ failure to insert an option-to-buy clause in Bartley’s contract even more baffling.
Yet, with Boro confident of their ability to hang onto talismanic centre-back Ben Gibson amid huge interest from the Premier League, you wonder whether they will pull out all the stops to sign Bartley this summer.
“Ben is one of a number of players here who are integral to the squad,” Monk said of the defender, as reported by The Mirror.
Middlesbrough’s Ben Gibson
“It’s important that you keep your best players, and important you’re able to keep a core together and give yourself the best possible opportunity of reaching the club’s ambition, which is to go back to the Premier League.
“Ben is a big part of that. It’s important that we keep our best players, and the club are in agreement with that.”
The Sun claimed that Everton were interested in the £20 million-rated Gibson while Liverpool and West Brom have also been heavily linked of late.
And there’s little doubt that Bartley would have been an excellent replacement for Gibson. However, with Boro having no financial need to sell their local lad turned club captain, you wonder whether they will still be willing to pay big money for the one-time Arsenal prospect.
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