Michael Carrick is apparently not messing about this summer. Reports from Thursday's newspapers suggest the Middlesbrough manager wants to bring in five new players ahead of next season, and if that is true, it tells you everything about how seriously he is taking another promotion push.
Carrick has quietly been one of the more interesting managerial stories in English football over the last couple of years. He took the Boro job when they were in a proper mess and has gradually built something that looks and feels like a real football team. Five signings in one window is a big statement though, and it raises the obvious question of whether the club's budget can actually match his ambition.
The Championship is one of those divisions where getting the recruitment right is genuinely the difference between going up and finishing mid-table looking confused. Clubs that splash five signings and get them wrong end up in trouble fast, so the quality of those targets matters just as much as the number. Carrick will know that better than most given his background playing at the highest level for years.
What is encouraging about this story, if there is truth to it, is that it suggests Carrick is not satisfied with where Middlesbrough are. That hunger is exactly what you want from a manager. Too many coaches at Championship level get comfortable, and the clubs stand still because of it. Boro have enough talent in their squad to be dangerous, and adding five players who genuinely improve the starting eleven could make them a real force.
Obviously five signings meaning five improvements only happens in the best case scenario. Realistically, a couple will probably take time to settle, one might not work out at all, and two could be excellent. That is just how transfer windows go for clubs outside the very top tier of spending power.
Still, the ambition is there, and you have to respect that. Carrick looks like a manager with a plan, and Middlesbrough fans should be feeling reasonably good about where this is heading.
Let me know your thoughts.