Middlesbrough have completed the deadline day signing of Alex Bangura from Dutch second division side SC Cambuur. So, here is everything we know about Boro’s arrival.
The Riverside outfit have spent £1m to make the 24-year-old a Middlesbrough player with a four-year contract. He is the 12th player to join the Teesside natives so far this summer with Boro backing Michael Carrick to turn their early-season form around and deliver promotion.
Middlesbrough have only taken one point through their opening four games of the 2023/24 Championship campaign. They have further only scored three goals and have conceded nine – only Huddersfield Town (10) have let in more. Boro face fellow strugglers QPR on Saturday.
Carrick targeted the deadline day transfer of Bangura from Cambuur to add an experienced option to his Middlesbrough squad. He also adds a versatile presence to the Riverside ranks with international skill. The Sierra Leone star also adds a captain to the Boro dressing room.
Who is Alex Bangura and how good is he?
Alex Bangura is the 12th player to sign for Middlesbrough over the summer transfer window after finalising a deadline day move from SC Cambuur. Boro coach Michael Carrick is thrilled to have the Sierra Leone international on Teesside for what he provides on and off the pitch.
“He’s a really exciting signing,” Carrick told Middlesbrough’s club website of Bangura. “He’s a left-back and he’s captained his team. He’s a good character, with a great personality, and he won’t have any problem fitting into the group.”
Bangura assumed the club captaincy at Cambuur this January and retained the armband for the rest of the term. He first skippered the side in September but would not guide Cambuur to safety. His team finished the 2022/23 Eredivisie season in 17th place with only 19 points.
Taking over the captaincy at Cambuur marked the latest step in Bangura’s journey with the club. He joined the Cambuur Stadion side in the city of Leeuwarden as a youth prospect in 2018. Feyenoord agreed to sell the defender after two seasons in their development team.
Bangura began his journey with De Rotterdamse Leeuw before a brief spell with Sportclub Feyenoord. He then moved to Feyenoord and then Cambuur in 2018 as an Under-21 gem. Cambuur handed Bangura his senior debut in February 2019 aged 19 years and six months.
Where and when was Alex Bangura born?
Alex Bangura was born in Mokome, a locality in Sierra Leone, on July 13, 1999. He has since represented the country five times at the international level after his debut in March 2022.
What position does Alex Bangura play?
Managers have traditionally played Axel Bangura as a left-back but he can also occupy more advanced positions. The defender has previously featured on both sides of an attacking line and even sparingly as a centre-half. But Bangura has rarely featured outside a left-back role.
Alex Bangura’s stats at SC Cambuur
Michael Carrick convinced Middlesbrough to seal a deadline day transfer for Alex Bangura as he boasted a strong CV with SC Cambuur for recording an attacking option from left-back.
First-team, SC Cambuur: 113 appearances, 5 goals, 10 assists