Stephen Gent has been announced as the new Bradford City Head of Recruitment by the club today.

Gent has taken on a variety of off-pitch roles at Middlesbrough in recent years, first starting out at the Teessiders in 2008 as an academy scout.

He then became the club's European Technical Scout and then went on to coach in the club's academy, before then becoming a first-team analyst in 2014.

Gent headed up the club's scouting operations from 2018 and most recently in November he changed roles once again to becomes 'Loans and Scouting Operations Manager'.

Gent will have a more significant say in the upcoming transfer window at Valley Parade though than he ever would have at Boro though as he will be bringing new players in to the Bantams to help strengthen Mark Hughes' squad.

Hughes had his say on the appointment when he spoke to the club's website, saying: "We took our time with the appointment and are really pleased Stephen is on board. 

"He has great knowledge of all levels of the footballing pyramid, and we were all struck by the insight Stephen has into the character of players, which will be important in ensuring we get the right ones through the door. 

"Stephen has lots of enthusiasm for his job and loves what he does, which is great because you know you will always get 100 per cent, and we are looking forward to working with him."

The Bantams were fully expecting a top seven finish this season in League Two after Derek Adams was brought in after performing excellently at Morecambe.

It may be a similar situation under Hughes next season with the quality that the club are hoping to bring in to freshen up the squad in the summer.

The Verdict

With a club the size of Bradford in the fourth tier, the aim is always going to be promotion and supporters will be hoping that Gent can contribute to a successful summer transfer window.

Hughes will have been painting a picture in his mind of what he wants his team to look like in the first game of next season for the last few months, and it will be interesting to monitor what kind of influence Gent has on that.

Gent certainly seems qualified to take on a role of this kind in League Two, and his experience in dealing with clubs in the past, should give the Bantams some extra bargaining power in persuading targets to join them for a promotion push next season.