Middlesbrough assistant provides transfer update and is quizzed on ex-Arsenal striker Chuba Akpom

Boro boss Neil Warnock has previously said signing two more strikers is the priority in the next few weeks and the club have been in talks with their No.1 target.

It’s since been claimed that Warnock was speaking about ex-Arsenal forward Chuba Akpom, a player who left North London to join Greek side PAOK in 2018.

Blackwell spoke to the press ahead of Saturday’s game against Bournemouth at the Riverside and was asked by the Mail about Akpom.

“There’s no doubt that we are looking at players and Chuba is definitely one of the players who we were looking at,” Blackwell replied.

“The club has set their targets quite high, we are looking for quality players.

“It’s no good getting players who are exactly the same as what you’ve got, they have got to be better than what you’ve got or you might as well stick with what you’ve got. Why invest heavily in players who can already do what you’ve already got.

“That is the problem, trying to find players better than what we’ve got and at the right price is proving difficult.

“When we have identified players other clubs have identified them as well so we are disappointed we haven’t been able to get one or two over the line

“As we’ve seen the squad is low on numbers and we just need to get those numbers up.“

Despite the club’s setbacks in the transfer market, Blackwell says Boro are still working hard to strengthen their squad in the next few weeks.

“I’m glad that Neil is doing this part of the job and not me because I know how frustrated he’s been,” added Blackwell when discussing transfers. “I’m delighted I’m on the training ground.

“As far as I know we are still aggressively attacking that situation and we know it’s an area we need to address and we need to get some more people through the door.

"For me looking at it I'd say we need two or three maybe more to give us that little bit of strength in depth that we need.”

Boro made seven changes for their Carabao Cup game against Barnsley on Tuesday as several of the club’s younger players received a chance.

Blackwell says the plan is still for some players to leave on loan to gain more first-team exposure, while there will be further discussions with academy manager Craig Liddle.

“We’ll look at the youngsters and we do feel that we’ve got some really good potential in the football club.

“Potential needs to be nurtured and it needs to be expressed and it needs to be stretched and that sometimes means that you have to loan them out.

“There are three lads we would like to get loaned out to get more experience and to be stretched and to be able to express themselves at a professional level.

“We will sit down with Lids and discuss which players need to go out, and hopefully we can get them to the right club.”

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