Middlesbrough are attempting to recruit West Bromwich Albion midfielder Alex Mowatt on a loan deal, according to a report from the Daily Mail.
The 27-year-old only arrived at The Hawthorns last term and looked set to be one of the first names on the teamsheet for the foreseeable future after being brought in by Valerian Ismael, who started him regularly at former club Barnsley as his captain.
And to no one's surprise, he was a regular starter alongside Jake Livermore in the middle of the park, operating in Ismael's 3-4-3 system and managing to retain his starting spot, often at the expense of Jayson Molumby and Robert Snodgrass.
However, this summer may play a big part in the potential downfall of his career in the Midlands, with John Swift and Okay Yoksulu both coming in as exceptional options for current boss Steve Bruce.
Bruce also seems to prefer Jayson Molumby over the ex-Tyke too, something that looks set to limit his playing time this season, coming on for a very short cameo against Boro before failing to make it on at all against Watford.
With this, Albion could be willing to sanction a temporary move away for the 27-year-old and Chris Wilder's side are seemingly keen to take advantage of this with a loan deal potentially in the pipeline.
He could come in to replace Marcus Tavernier, though it's difficult to compare the two considering Mowatt operated in a 3-4-3 system under Ismael, not exactly giving him the freedom to roam in the final third very often as he remained alongside Jake Livermore and others.
Completing 79.6% of his passes last season compared to Tavernier's 80.1%, the two are similar in that department, though it could be argued that the latter is entitled to have a lower percentage as someone who often operated in the final third, a much higher-risk area.
At the same time though, Ismael implemented a direct style of football, one reason why Mowatt may not have completed as many passes as he would've liked during the 2021/22 campaign.
The West Brom man did complete more of his dribbles (52.9%) than AFC Bournemouth's summer signing (47.6%) though, with the former winning a much higher percentage of his duels too (51.4%).
That could make him a real asset to have in a deeper position as well as in an advanced area with his 4.76 interceptions per match to consider as well, potentially giving Wilder different ways he could set up his Boro team.
The one downside about his dribbling is the fact he attempted far less (0.99) per game than Tavernier (3.69) and with Mowatt operating in different systems to the one Wilder has adopted at the Riverside last season, it may take him a while to adapt to a completely different role on Teesside.
One area where he falls behind Tavernier is in the goalscoring department, with the ex-Boro man recording five goals and five assists last season, compared to the Baggies' man's four goals and two assists.
Mowatt managed to guide 13% less of his shots on target compared to the Cherries' midfielder - but the former did score eight times for Barnsley during the 2020/21 campaign and that could be enough to persuade Wilder to continue pursuing this move.