Middlesbrough have completed the signing of Manchester City striker Lukas Nmecha on-loan until the end of the season.

Jonathan Woodgate has acted fast to build on his side’s current impressive form by completing the second signing of the January transfer window after just three days of it being open.

Yesterday, Boro completed the signing of Man City winger Patrick Roberts, after he barely featured during his loan spell at Norwich City in the first half of the season. Now, Woodgate has added to this by bringing in his teammate from the Etihad, Lukas Nmecha. 

The towering striker joins the club having spent the first half of the season on loan in the Bundesliga with VFL Wolfsburg but returns to England for his second loan spell in the Championship in as many seasons after he spent the entirety of last campaign at Deepdale with Preston North End.

It wasn’t the most fruitful campaign for the current German under-21 international as he hit three goals in 44 appearances for the Lilywhites. He will be keen to help solve Middlesbrough’s alarming lack of goals this season from the likes of Britt Assombalonga and Ashley Fletcher, which had seen them struggle in and around the relegation zone up until recently.

Speaking to the club’s official site following the confirmation of Nmecha’s arrival, Woodgate had this to say: “We’re delighted to bring Lukas to the club. He is a terrific young player who has the benefit of a year’s experience of Championship football.

“He is another young, hungry player of real quality and it’s great that we’ve been able to get him.

“In Lukas and Patrick we have signed two very good players, and we’ve been able to bring them in early in the transfer window which is a real bonus.”

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The Verdict

It's another great piece of business from Woodgate to get a solid youngster over the line so early in the window, giving him ample time to acclimatise to his new club much earlier than a lot of other signings.

With the signing of Roberts also coming from Manchester City, it could help both hit the ground running as they can at least go through the settling-in process together.

It was clear where Middlesbrough needed to strengthen this month and they have gone a long way to solving it after just three days of the window.