Middlesbrough are facing a massive summer in the transfer market.

After finishing the Championship season in 10th position there is plenty of work for Neil Warnock's side to do if they're to get anywhere near the play-off spots next term.

With several high-profile players likely to be leaving the club this summer, it means that the Riverside Stadium could be home to a range of new stars come the start of the new season in August.

Recruitment is a tricky business as for every Juninho there's a handful of shocking signings who have failed to get anywhere near expectations on Teesside.

With that in mind here are 10 transfer shockers that Middlesbrough will want to avoid repeating in the summer of 2021.

Gordon Strachan's time at the club was fraught with poor recruitment, but one signing in particular really took the biscuit.

Kris Boyd moved to Middlesbrough on a free transfer in the summer of 2010 after a thoroughly enjoyable time with Rangers where he established himself as one of the best marksmen in Scotland.

The hope was that the experienced poacher could take the Championship by storm, but it's to safe that that didn't.

In fairness to Boyd, expectations were particularly high given the substantial wages that he was on and the hype that surrounded his signing, but after scoring six goals in just 29 appearances for the club it was clear that things weren't working out.

Perhaps that was down to his lack of work ethic on the pitch, but Boyd will certainly go down as a shocker in the supporters' books.

Ah yes, Middlesbrough's goal machine was memorable for all of the wrong reasons.

Afonso Alves looked like an absolute world-beater during his time with Heerenveen in the Dutch Eredivisie, leading the Teessiders to pay £12million to bring him in at the start of 2008.

A price tag like that is bound to heap pressure on a striker's shoulders and Alves simply wilted under the pressure.

Despite a memorable brace against Manchester United and a sublime free-kick against Tottenham, his time at the Riverside Stadium was pretty underwhelming with 13 goals in 49 appearances not being enough to convince fans that he was all-that.

He left the club 18 months later with a low-key exit with Middlesbrough making a substantial loss on him.

He was far from a household name on these shores, but head to Korea and Lee Dong Gook would be treated like royalty.

The striker joined Gareth Southgate's side on a free transfer in January 2007 on an 18-month deal as he looked to acclimatise to life in the Premier League, however that would prove trickier than he thought.

Dong Gook made 29 appearances for the club during his time on Teesside but scored just two goals in that time in cup fixtures with Northampton Town and Mansfield Town.

After his spell didn't work out the striker returned to South Korea where he started banging them in for fun and even became the record goalscorer in the K League.

One of Middlesbrough's first signings after securing promotion to the Premier League back in 2016.

Viktor Fischer arrived for a price of £4.5million - a fee that looked like good value given that he was expected to slot straight into Aitor Karanka's side and make a big impression.

Sadly for the Dutchman is just didn't work out at the Riverside Stadium.

Despite creating three goals in 16 appearances, Fischer struggled to really establish himself at the club and ended up being sold to German side Mainz for a fee of £2.7million the following summer.

There's a real feeling of 'what if' regarding the winger as he certainly could have been a big player.

Carlos De Pena is a perfect example of the 'typical Boro' curse in the transfer market.

The winger moved to Teesside for £2.6million in September 2015 but even his arrival at the club didn't quite go to plan as a minor car accident on the way to the airport in Uruguay saw his move delayed.

After finally arriving at the club things didn't get much better.

De Pena made just 10 first team appearances in two years with the club, before having his contract terminated by mutual consent.

Since then the winger has really kicked on, however, and has been competing in the Champions League with Dinamo Kiev this term.

It was a truly exciting era for the club in which the club signed gem after gem - well, at least for the most part.

Middlesbrough had just won the Carling Cup in 2004 and were preparing for life in the UEFA Cup with Juninho and Doriva were joined by a third Brazilian that went by the name of Ricardinho.

The midfielder was a Brazilian international and had a big name in his homeland, but unfortunately made no impression whatsover with Middlesbrough after failing to make a first team appearance during his time at the club after arriving on a free transfer.

He then left to join Santos where he quickly established himself once again as a regular feature in Brazil's national team.

To call it a weird signing would be a huge understatement.

Few could argue with the talent that this man possessed.

Having shown glimpses of his quality with both AS Roma and Tottenham Hotspur it seemed that Middlesbrough were preparing for a really exciting addition when Mido moved to the club for an estimated £7.9million.

Unfortunately the Egyptian struggled to make a sustained impact - something that would become synonymous with his career.

Mido struggled with his fitness during his time at Middlesbrough and made just 32 appearances for the club, scoring eight goals in that time.

With his Boro career over he left to head back to Egypt in 2010, never to be seen again in the Premier League.

A player who was arguably the most frustrating player in Middlesbrough history.

Michael Ricketts completed a £3.5million move to Teesside in 2003 after showing his true quality during his time at Bolton Wanderers.

Unfortunately for Steve McClaren, he wouldn't get to see anything like the striker's best performances during his time at the Riverside Stadium.

Fitness was a massive problem for Ricketts and eventually McClaren simply ran out of patience as the attacker was deemed surplus to requirements and moved on as he career continued to peter out.

Middlesbrough supporters are still trying to wrap their heads around the Martin Braithwaite saga.

The Danish international moved to the Riverside Stadium in 2017 for a fee of £9million from Toulouse, but after just six months at the club he left on loan for Bordeaux in January 2018.

After coming back he committed his future to the club, before quickly changing his mind and expressing his desire to move to Spain.

Braithwaite spent the first half of the 2018-19 season with Middlesbrough before leaving for Levante on an initial loan deal in January 2019.

The forward then attracted global attention when he was signed by Barcelona in January 2020 for a fee of £18million.