The 2016–17 season was Middlesbrough's fifteenth season in the Premier League, their first since relegation in the 2008–09 season, after gaining promotion the previous season in their 141st year in existence. Along with the Premier League, the club also competed in the FA Cup and EFL Cup. The season covered the period from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017.
Middlesbrough's long-awaited return to the top flight proved to be disastrous, as the team struggled to score goals all season, despite boasting a strong defensive record compared to other teams in the bottom half of the table. Their total of 27 goals scored throughout the season was the lowest in the Premier League, leading to manager Aitor Karanka's dismissal in March. Caretaker manager Steve Agnew could not improve the team's fortunes as they were relegated back to the Championship on 8 May 2017 following their 3–0 away defeat to Chelsea, who would go on to become champions.
Squad
First team squad
Squad No. Name Nationality Position(s) Date of birth (age) Previous team Goalkeepers 1 Dimitrios Konstantopoulos GK AEK Athens 12 Brad Guzan GK Aston Villa 26 Victor Valdes GK Manchester United Defenders 2 Fábio FB Cardiff City 3 George Friend LB Doncaster Rovers 4 Daniel Ayala CB Norwich City 5 Bernardo Espinosa CB Sporting Gijón 6 Ben Gibson CB Academy 17 Antonio Barragán RB Valencia 22 Dael Fry CB Academy 25 Calum Chambers L RB / CB Arsenal 40 James Husband LB Doncaster Rovers - Jordan McGhee L RB Hearts - Nathan McGinley LB Academy Midfielders 7 Grant Leadbitter DM / CM Ipswich Town 8 Adam Clayton DM / CM Huddersfield Town 14 Marten de Roon DM / CM Atalanta 18 Cristhian Stuani RM / CF Espanyol 19 Stewart Downing AM / LM / RM West Ham United 21 Gastón Ramírez AM Southampton 27 Adlène Guedioura CM Watford 34 Adam Forshaw CM / DM Wigan Athletic - Alex Pattison AM Academy - Lewis Maloney CM Academy Strikers 10 Álvaro Negredo L CF Valencia 11 Viktor Fischer LW Ajax 20 Patrick Bamford CF Chelsea 29 Rudy Gestede FW Aston Villa 37 Adama Traoré RW Aston Villa
L = Player on Loan
Transfers
Transfers in Date from Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref. 1 July 2016 DF Bernardo Espinosa Sporting Gijón Free 1 July 2016 FW Viktor Fischer Ajax £3,800,000 4 July 2016 MF Marten de Roon Atalanta £12,000,000 7 July 2016 GK Víctor Valdés Manchester United Free 15 July 2016 DF Antonio Barragán Valencia £3,000,000 18 July 2016 MF Gastón Ramírez Southampton Free 29 July 2016 GK Brad Guzan Aston Villa Free 12 August 2016 DF Fábio Cardiff City £2,000,000 31 August 2016 FW Adama Traoré Aston Villa £7,500,000 4 January 2017 FW Rudy Gestede Aston Villa £6,000,000 5 January 2017 FW Mikael Soisalo Ilves Undisclosed 18 January 2017 FW Patrick Bamford Chelsea £6,000,000 31 January 2017 MF Adlène Guedioura Watford £4,500,000 2 February 2017 MF William Opoku Asiedu Okyeman Planners Free
Total spending £20,800,000
Loans in Date from Position Nationality Name From Date until Ref. 5 July 2016 DF Jordan McGhee Hearts End of season 20 July 2016 FW Álvaro Negredo Valencia End of season 30 August 2016 DF Calum Chambers Arsenal End of season 2 February 2017 DF Pedro Silva Torrejón Boca Juniors End of season
Loans out Date from Position Nationality Name To Date until Ref. 1 July 2016 DF Jonny Burn Kilmarnock 4 January 2017 9 July 2016 GK Connor Ripley Oldham Athletic End of season 12 August 2016 MF Harry Chapman Sheffield United End of season 30 August 2016 FW Bradley Fewster Hartlepool United End of season 31 August 2016 DF Alex Baptiste Preston North End End of season 31 August 2016 DF Dael Fry Rotherham United 4 January 2017 5 January 2017 MF Julien De Sart Derby County End of season 5 January 2017 GK Tomás Mejías Rayo Vallecano End of season 26 January 2017 GK Joseph Fryer Hartlepool United End of season 27 January 2017 DF Mark Kitching Rochdale 31 January 2017 31 January 2017 MF Harry Chapman Sheffield United End of season 31 January 2017 MF Callum Cooke Crewe Alexandra End of season 31 January 2017 MF Carlos de Pena Real Oviedo End of season 1 February 2017 FW Jordan Rhodes Sheffield Wednesday End of season 2 February 2017 MF William Opoku Asiedu Levadia End of next season 2 February 2017 MF Robbie Tinkler North Ferriby United End of season
Transfers out Date from Position Nationality Name To Fee Ref. 1 July 2016 DF Damià Abella Retired Released 1 July 2016 DF Jonathan Woodgate Retired Released 1 July 2016 DF Rhys Williams Perth Glory Free 1 July 2016 GK Luke Coddington Huddersfield Town Free 1 July 2016 MF Jordan Jones Kilmarnock Free 1 July 2016 DF Andre Bennett Bishop Auckland Free 30 August 2016 DF Adam Jackson Barnsley Undisclosed 30 August 2016 DF Brad Halliday Cambridge United Undisclosed 31 August 2016 MF Mustapha Carayol Nottingham Forest Free 31 August 2016 MF Albert Adomah Aston Villa Undisclosed 31 August 2016 MF Adam Reach Sheffield Wednesday £5,000,000 9 January 2017 FW David Nugent Derby County Undisclosed 18 January 2017 DF Emilio Nsue Birmingham City Undisclosed 20 January 2017 MF Bryn Morris Shrewsbury Town Undisclosed 26 January 2017 DF Jonny Burn Bristol Rovers Undisclosed 31 January 2017 FW Arnel Jakupovic Empoli Undisclosed 31 January 2017 DF Mark Kitching Rochdale Undisclosed 1 February 2017 FW Jordan Rhodes Sheffield Wednesday Undisclosed
New contracts
Player Contract length Contract endDate Source4 3 6 34 22
Competitions
Overview
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center" |- !rowspan=2|Competition !colspan=8|Record |- ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! |- | Premier League
| FA Cup
| League Cup
! Total
Pre-season friendlies
Premier League
Matches
Results by matchday
Results summary
League table
FA Cup
EFL Cup
Statistics
Appearances
No.Pos.NamePremier LeagueFA CupEFL CupTotalDisciplineAppsGoalsAssistsAppsGoalsAssistsAppsGoalsAssistsAppsGoalsAssists 1 GK Dimitrios Konstantopoulos00010000010000 2 DF Fábio21 (3)003 (1)0010125 (3)0180 3 DF George Friend20 (4)022000 (1)0022 (5)0240 4 DF Daniel Ayala11 (3)1020010014 (3)1051 5 DF Bernardo Espinosa10 (1)0040000014 (1)0020 6 DF Ben Gibson3811200100411150 7 MF Grant Leadbitter7 (6)1042100011 (6)3140 8 MF Adam Clayton32 (2)0240010036 (2)02110 10 FW Álvaro Negredo33 (3)941 (2)1100034 (5)10550 11 FW Viktor Fischer6 (7)032001009 (7)0300 12 GK Brad Guzan1000300100140000 14 MF Marten de Roon32 (1)4021000034 (1)5090 17 DF Antonio Barragán2600100000270050 18 MF Cristhian Stuani16 (7)402 (2)100 (1)0018 (10)5040 19 MF Stewart Downing24 (6)132 (1)1010027 (7)2320 20 FW Patrick Bamford2 (6)101000003 (6)1010 21 MF Gastón Ramírez20 (4)230 (2)0000020 (6)2391 22 DF Dael Fry0000 (2)000000 (2)0000 25 DF Calum Chambers2411200000261150 26 GK Víctor Valdés2800000000280010 27 MF Adlène Guedioura0 (5)000000000 (5)0000 29 FW Rudy Gestede4 (12)103100007 (12)2020 34 MF Adam Forshaw30 (4)010000 (1)0030 (5)0140 37 FW Adama Traoré16 (11)013 (1)0000019 (12)0120 40 DF James Husband10000000010000Players who left the club in August/January transfer window or on loan 9 FW Jordan Rhodes2 (4)000000002 (4)0000 13 GK Tomás Mejías00000000000000 15 DF Alex Baptiste00000010010000 16 MF Carlos de Pena00000000000000 20 MF Adam Reach00000000000000 23 MF Julien De Sart00000010010000 24 DF Emilio Nsue40000010050000 27 MF Albert Adomah1 (1) 000000001 (1) 0000 35 FW David Nugent0 (4)000001101 (4)1000 - MF Bryn Morris00000000000000
Top scorers The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal. PlayerPremier LeagueFA CupLeague CupTotal1FW10 Álvaro Negredo910102RM18 Cristhian Stuani4105CM14 Marten de Roon41054CM7 Grant Leadbitter12035AM21 Gastón Ramírez2002LM19 Stewart Downing1102FW29 Rudy Gestede11028CB4 Daniel Ayala1001CB6 Ben Gibson1001FW20 Patrick Bamford1001CB25 Calum Chambers1001FW35 David Nugent0011Own goals10 01 Total277135
Clean sheets The list is sorted by shirt number when total appearances are equal. PlayerPremier LeagueFA CupLeague CupTotal126 Víctor Valdés8008212 Brad Guzan310431 Dimitrios Konstantopoulos0101413 Tomás Mejías0000Total112013
References