Aden Flint – A closer look at Middlesbrough’s new signing

On Wednesday, Tony Pulis completed his second signing of the summer, bringing Bristol City centre-back Aden Flint to the Riverside.

The 28-year-old has been one of the division’s standout performers over the last few seasons and is a signing that really rubberstamps Boro’s ambitions to return to the Premier League.

Here, we take a closer look at the North East club’s new man and look at how he could fit into Pulis’s squad.

The statistic that stands out most when you look at Aden Flint is his goalscoring record. Eight goals in the Championship last season is a record a lot of midfielders would be content with.

In fact, Flint has 35 goals in the last five seasons alone. 35. From centre-back. There is no doubt that Flint is just as useful in the opposition’s box as he is his own.

But the former Swindon man is not a one trick pony. He can do the dirty work at the back impeccably as well.

He averaged 6.1 clearances a game last season and won 5.5 aerial duels per game as well. He’s a tough nut and will be very welcome in the Boro backline.

But will he even get to start at the Riverside? Maybe not straight away.

Boro were hardly poor at defending last season. The centre-back pairing of Daniel Ayala and Ben Gibson was the perfect structure on which Tony Pulis led his troops to the play-offs.

But there is no doubt that having that extra competition can only be a good thing. When there is plenty of competition for places it inevitably results in everyone upping their game.