Frustration as Middlesbrough endure nightmare deadline day with no new faces arriving

While their Championship rivals strengthened Boro failed to make a single addition on the final day of the January window.

Tony Pulis wanted to add further pace and width but ended up with nothing despite trying on a number of fronts.

Boro missed out on Jacob Murphy, the Newcastle United winger instead joining West Bromwich Albion on loan, and they also missed out on Kamil Grosicki from Hull City.

Everton’s Yannick Bolasie and former winger Adama Traore had also been linked but nothing transpired.

It left Boro with just two January signings; Huddersfield winger Rajiv van La Parra on loan and former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel.

The only deals done on deadline day saw a number of the club’s younger players head out on loan.

Highly-rated Middlesbrough striker Stephen Walker joined League Two side MK Dons on loan for the rest of the season.

Walker, 18, signed a new four-and-a-half-year contract at the Riverside on Wednesday and has now been sent out on loan to further his development.

Dons manager Paul Tisdale said: “He comes into a team where we’re looking for more options and drive in our front line and we think Stephen will do that.

“I think he will be a really exciting addition to our season. I know he has a good future at Middlesbrough, he’s played at England U19 level and for the next few months, he’ll be here at Stadium MK.”

Boro moved swiftly to tie Walker down to a new long-term deal amid interest in the striker, with North East neighbours Sunderland among those keeping tabs on his progress at the Riverside.

The England youth international made his first team debut for his hometown club in the Carabao Cup victory over Notts County, and also came off the bench in the 5-0 win against Peterborough United in the Emirates FA Cup.

A regular England youth international, Walker has represented the Young Lions at U17, U18 and U19 level and he scored another hat-trick for the U19s against Macedonia last October.

Meanwhile, Boro striker George Miller, 20, completed a permanent transfer to Barnsley.

Miller was on a season-long loan with Bradford City, and his transfer is the subject of a three-way agreement that sees him join Barnsley on a permanent basis but remain on loan from the Oakwell club to the Bantams for the remainder of the campaign.

Left-back Hayden Coulson joined Cambridge United on loan until the end of the season. The 20-year-old has been with Boro’s Academy since the age of 13. Central defender Sam Stubbs, 20, joined Notts County on loan until the end of the season.