'Next Harry Kane' & USMNT stars: How Middlesbrough became England's most interesting team

Analysis

Matthew Judge | Editor

Eyebrows were raised when Middlesbrough signed Tottenham Hotspur striker Will Lankshear for €11.7million (£10m) rising to €23m (£20m) this summer.

However, surprise is now slowly turning into admiration after the 21-year-old made an electric start to the 2026-27 season with his new club.

Lankshear introduced himself to the Boro faithful in some style by scoring a volleyed winner in the Carabao Cup victory over Wrexham earlier this month.

And the striker followed up those heroics with an inspired brace in the 2-1 Championship win over Lincoln City last Saturday.

Such has been Lankshear’s impressive form in front of goal that he has now been compared to none other than Bayern Munich icon Harry Kane - a fellow Spurs academy graduate who earned his stripes in England's lower leagues before achieving superstardom.

“A lot of people questioned it,” Boro striker coach Scott Chickelday told Sky Sports when asked about the decision to sign Lankshear, who scored 12 times on loan at Oxford United last season.

“Those same people are now looking at it and thinking, ‘hang on, we might have got a bit of a bargain here’.

“He has got all the finishes in the book. He has got the little flicks around the corner, tap-ins, headers, volleys. Just an all-round No. 9 and there are not many around at the minute.

“His finishing is incredible. I tell people and they laugh at me, but this boy is the closest thing I have seen to Harry Kane.”

While it is a huge claim to compare Lankshear to the arguably world’s best striker, it will only raise interest in the forward - and Boro - as a result.

And Lankshear is not the only new face making waves for Kim Hellberg’s side, with United States duo Max Arfsten and Sebastian Berhalter attracting viewers from across the pond.

USMNT duo Arfsten & Berhalter have also made their mark

After signing Lankshear from Tottenham, Boro later secured the signatures of Arfsten and Berhalter from Columbus Crew and Vancouver Whitecaps respectively.

And both have been quick to make an impact at the Riverside, with Berhalter recording the assist for Lankshear’s winner against Wrexham, while Arfsten featured in the same game despite having only trained twice beforehand.

“I think he was very, very good,” Boro boss Hellberg said of Berhalter’s display against Wrexham. “You can see the quality he has in every aspect of the game.

“He just wants to learn, he just wants to work. We have theory for one hour and you see, same as Will (Lankshear), they just want to listen and they want to learn. It's that type of profile you love working with as a coach.”

The Swede was also pleased with Arfsten’s performance, given the context, adding: “If I’m being honest, he did better than I thought he maybe could. That’s because it’s tough when he only arrived here on Tuesday (4 August).

“It was important when that opportunity came to play against a very good side we gave him that chance. It was the perfect game for him to learn from, to get better from, and I think he did very good.”

Not content with making three eye-catching signings, Boro have also landed goalkeeper Radek Vitek, defender Ashley Phillips, attacking midfielder Myles Peart-Harris and forwards Jeremy Sarmiento and Kyle Joseph this summer.

And after securing successive wins in their opening two fixtures this season, the Teessiders have quickly become one of the teams to watch in England as they target promotion to the Premier League, having narrowly missed out in May's playoff final against Hull City.

But while positivity is sky high at the moment, Boro are understandably keen to take one step at a time, starting with a league trip to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.

“I know my dream is to play in the Premier League one day and I know that my friends' dream is to play in the Premier League as well," Lankshear said after his double against Lincoln.

“But it's important not to listen to the noise and just keep on track. Keep focusing, keep coming in every single day and working hard. If you do that, you'll get rewarded.”

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Written by

Matthew Judge | Editor

Matthew Judge is a freelance sports writer from Liverpool, United Kingdom. He has worked for/had words published by Everton Football Club, The Independent, Daily Mirror, Stats Perform, Goal, and Squawka, among others.

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