Middlesbrough midfielder Massimo Luongo has revealed the toughest thing when leaving Sheffield Wednesday in the summer was finding a club of a similar size but that's why his move to the Riverside "felt like a really good fit". 

Luongo was released by the Owls at the end of the 2021/22 campaign and bided his time before signing for the Championship club earlier this month.

The 29-year-old is yet to make his senior debut for the Teessiders but will hope to do so in their first game after the international break, which sees them travel to the Coventry Building Society Arena to face fellow strugglers Coventry City.

Luongo trained with Boro's second tier rivals Reading before joining the North East club and, speaking to Teesside Live, has discussed how he ended up at the Riverside after leaving the Owls.

He said: “I was training with Reading for a little bit before coming here and that definitely helped a lot when I got here. I then had a few days here [before signing] and it was a bit more specific here, tougher sessions, running tests and stuff like that too. The one thing you don’t want to do is go straight into it and put your body into shock with the intensity of it.

“I lived in Sheffield so you're right amongst it. Football is obviously massive there. I haven't been into Middlesbrough apart from for games around the ground but it's the same feelings. On match days the crowd can turn really quickly – negatively or positively – so I'm used to it. I'm used to playing in front of big crowds, especially in home games.

“I don’t know too much about the area, but as a club, watching them in the Premier League and playing against them over the years, they’ve always been a massive club in my eyes. Trying to get a result here was always difficult and they’ve always been a team you expect to challenge the top six in the Championship.

"In my eyes, the toughest thing for me when leaving a club like Sheffield Wednesday because of the size of that club and not wanting to then play for what you might consider a smaller team. So getting the move to Middlesbrough just felt like a really good fit for me."

The Australia international's new side harboured promotion aspirations ahead of the 2022/23 campaign but have endured a testing start to the season and currently sit 22nd in the table – with 10 points from their first 10 games.

The Verdict

It was a surprise to see Luongo leave Wednesday in the summer but he has certainly landed on his feet at Boro.

These comments show the high regard he has for his former club despite his slightly strange exit.

The Australian was clearly keen to move somewhere where there was a burning passion for football and he looks to have found that up at the Riverside.

There was plenty of anticipation ahead of the new season but Chris Wilder's side have started poor and Luongo will no doubt be keen to help them turn the tide.