Middlesbrough are closing in on a deal worth as much as £14million to bring goalkeeper Radek Vitek from Manchester United as the Championship start line looms closer.
The Teessiders face Wrexham in the EFL Cup on Friday in their curtain-raiser before tackling Lincoln City in the Championship opener on August 15th.
Middlesbrough lost the Championship play-off final to Hull City in May and boss Kim Hellberg is now embarking on his first full season at the Riverside.
One of his predecessors, Michael Carrick, is seemingly ready to sanction the deal that will see Vitek leave Old Trafford, where number one Senne Lammens is joined by summer signing Karl Darlow at the Premier League giants.
Vitek has Championship experience following an impressive season with Bristol City last time around.
The 22-year-old Czech joined United's ranks in 2020 as a teenager but has failed to make any first team starts with the Red Devils under various managers.
Instead, he has been loaned out to Accrington Stanley, Blau-Weiss Linz and then Bristol City in the last three seasons.
According to the Press Association, the Red Devils will retain a buy-back option as part of a deal with Boro that is worth up to £14m with bonuses, plus up to a 35 per cent sell-on clause.
Senegalese shot stopper Seny Deng and Solomon Brynn have shared the goalkeeping duties during pre-season for Middlesbrough, with the latter having held the gloves for most of last season. That was the 25-year-old's first full campaign between the sticks.
Already this summer, Middlesbrough have landed Tottenham striker Will Lankshear on a five-year contract in a deal that could rise to a club-record £20m.
Lankshear spent last season on loan in the Championship at Oxford and hit double figures despite the club going down. He scored 11 goals and provided four assists in 44 Championship games.
The 21-year-old suggested Boro are a "massive club", and one he would deem "to be a Premier League club".
He became Middlesbrough's fourth signing of the summer after they secured Myles Peart-Harris from Oxford on a free transfer, plus Jeremy Sarmiento from Brighton and Kyle Joseph from Hull City.
On the opposite of the ledger, midfielder Hayden Hackney moved to Everton for around £16m, while the Teessiders will also be due a sizeable sell-on fee after Chelsea completed the £117m signing of their former attacker Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa.
More recently, winger Max Arfsten has joined the north east outfit from Columbus Crew in the US this week. The 25-year-old USA international scored 14 goals in 89 Major League Soccer appearances.
He is the second American to join Boro this summer after midfielder Sebastian Berhalter signed last month, making it six summer signings, with Vitek now deemed likely to be the seventh.
Berhalter joined from Vancouver Whitecaps where he had scored 20 goals in 167 appearances for the MLS outfit. He is the son of former Crystal Palace player Gregg Berhalter and was born in London but is already a USA international.
Last season Middlesbrough finished fifth in the Championship and reached the play-off final. They did so only after Southampton were expelled over the spygate affair, but lost the final to Hull City at Wembley when Oli McBurnie's dramatic stoppage-time goal sent the Tigers to the Premier League.
Hellberg was appointed as Boro boss last November after Rob Edwards left his position to take over at Wolves.
The former Hammarby boss was taking his first job outside of Sweden. His impact was strong and, come February, six wins in a row culminated in Boro going top of the table after they reined in leaders Coventry City.
Hackney was key to much of Boro's success last season and replacing him following a switch to Everton will be a priority.
Hellberg's side ran out of puff last season, winning just two of their last ten regular season games as they fell off the pace and finished four points behind Ipswich Town in second.
They were beaten after-extra-time at St Mary's in the play-off semi-final second leg before gaining a reprieve but couldn't find a way past Hull at Wembley despite dominating possession.
Boro will go again, though, in 2026-27 in search of a route back up to the Premier League.
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