Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick has done an excellent job since taking over at the club.

Carrick replaced Chris Wilder in October, with the former Sheffield United boss sacked with the club in and around the relegation zone.

The 41-year-old spent 12 years as a player at Manchester United and also had a spell as caretaker manager at Old Trafford, before being handed his first permanent managerial post at the Riverside Stadium.

It has been an impressive start to life on Teesside, with three wins from Carrick's first five games in charge moving Boro up to 14th in the Championship table, just four points off the play-offs going into the World Cup break and putting important distance between themselves and the bottom three.

Carrick inherited a squad which saw a number of new recruits arrive in the summer, including Zack Steffen, Ryan Giles, Darragh Lenihan, Rodrigo Muniz and Marcus Forss, but he will also be looking to complement his existing squad with some additions in January.

Boro have had plenty of talent in their ranks in recent years but of those players who have previously plied their trade for the club, which of those would Carrick most like to have available to him now?

Marten de Roon

As a midfielder who played at the highest level himself, Carrick will be able to appreciate the abilities of those in the middle of the park.

De Roon arrived at the Riverside in 2016, as part of a number of high-profile additions including the likes of Victor Valdes and Alvaro Negredo. The Dutchman performed well with five goals in 35 appearances for the club in a struggling side which was relegated from the Premier League after just one season.

That summer he returned to Italy with Atalanta and his career has progressed significantly since then, being part of the team which secured a record third-placed Serie A finish in 2019 and had a number of impressive Champions League campaigns in recent years.

His performances have also attracted the attention of Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal, who named the 31-year-old in his World Cup squad for Qatar.

While Boro do have plenty of options in midfield currently, Carrick would surely be keen to have someone of de Roon's experience and quality at his disposal.

Patrick Bamford

If Middlesbrough are perhaps missing something from their squad, it is an out-and-out goalscorer.

Chuba Akpom is starting to establish himself as Boro's main attacking threat, with eight goals this season, despite not being in Wilder's plans at the start of the season.

But aside from Akpom, the club's forwards have struggled this season. Duncan Watmore has four goals to his name, Muniz and Forss both have two, while Matthew Hoppe is yet to get off the mark.

No player has scored more goals for the club in recent years than the 19 Bamford notched in his initial loan spell from Chelsea during the 2014-15 season.

He found life tough after making a return to Teesside permanently in 2017, but found his feet after their relegation, scoring 13 goals in the 2017-18 season before signing for Leeds United.

Like de Roon, Bamford is another whose form improved after departing the Riverside Stadium. Bamford excelled under Marcelo Bielsa at Elland Road, scoring 16 goals on the way to promotion, followed by 17 in their first season in the top flight.

The 29-year-old has suffered with injuries for much of the last few seasons and he has been missed in West Yorkshire, with the Whites struggling towards the bottom of the Premier League in his absence.

Goalscorers are the hardest additions to find and while Carrick will undoubtedly be in the market for a striker, he would love to have a goalscorer with Bamford's ability.