MICHAEL Carrick promised Middlesbrough would be "calm" and that's a fair description of how deadline day played out on Teesside.

In terms of senior first team players, there was one in and one out. Jeremy Sivi headed for Harrogate on loan late on but it was clear long before the 11pm deadline that the capture of Alex Bangura, the 12th signing of the summer, would prove to be the last.

There was a vow from Carrick ahead of Friday that Boro wouldn't be "rash" and desperately chase last minute recruits.

The only real question mark going into deadline day was whether Boro would add one more centre-forward to their ranks. That was the aim a week earlier, but the signing of Sam Greenwood, as comfortable up-front as he is at No.10, and confirmation on Thursday that Josh Coburn was staying put all but confirmed the fact there'd be no striker through the door.

More on the striker situation later. But first, left-back. Alex Bangura arrived yesterday, the 24-year-old who was courted by Boro throughout the course of the summer. The Sierra Leone international, who joined from Dutch second tier side SC Cambuur, will rival Lukas Engel for the left-back spot, but he can also played in an advanced role on the left flank.

"He's a really exciting signing," said Carrick of the deadline day addition.

"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 said as much himself, telling the club website in his first interview that he's found the squad and club staff "very welcoming".

He said: "For me, it was always a dream to play in the UK. I've always watched English football and if a club like Boro is interested in you, it's like wow, I really want to do this."

Payero's exit has felt inevitable for a while. He signed a four-year deal with Udinese having made just 16 appearances during his two-year stay on Teesside. It hasn't worked out for the midfielder and it was pretty clear that wasn't going to change. His deadline day move suits all parties.

Boro started deadline day open to the prospect of more than one signing but stressed that they'd only sign the "right player" and Carrick described himself as "really happy" with the summer business. The head coach is pleased with the balance of his squad.

Carrick isn't short of options up-front. Emmanuel Latte Lath and Coburn are both out-and-out strikers and Greenwood made clear when he spoke to the press after signing this week that he sees himself as much as a striker as he does a No.10. Marcus Forss, Matt Crooks and Morgan Rogers have also led the line for Boro under Carrick.

Had Boro signed a striker, Coburn would have been allowed to join Plymouth, but Argyle boss Steven Schumacher was alerted earlier in the week that the planned loan deal was off. Schumacher was always aware that that was a possibility but had no regrets about playing the waiting game on the Bedale-born striker.

The Plymouth boss said yesterday: "Josh is a good player. I had the opportunity to sign Josh last year and it didn't work out. He was injured at the time. So I watched him obviously last season. He was brilliant for Bristol Rovers.

"I think he's a mobile number nine and is a good player. I went back for him this year and said I would wait. I couldn't wait last year because he was injured, but I said I would wait for him this year. We had a deal in place with Middlesbrough.

"I was in contact with Michael this week and he said to me 'Look, our plans have changed and we are going to keep him in'. When you are the club trying to get a loan player that's just how it is. I wouldn't say in hindsight I wish I had done something different because I think he would have complemented our team."

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Boro attention now turns back to action on the pitch, with QPR the visitors to the Riverside today as Carrick's side look to kick-start their season with their first Championship win of the campaign. And the boss is pleased with the make-up of his squad now the window is closed.

He said: “I’m really happy with the work that we’ve done throughout the window. I’m really excited to see individually what the boys can bring, but also to see what we can do as a team.

"I'm really happy with the squad as we sit now and I think we’ve got a very good team and group of individuals. We’ve got a good balance to the squad crucially as well.

"We’ve brought a lot of good players into the group, a lot of them at a very good age as well in terms of looking at that next stage and chapter of their career and coming here to develop and progress.

"They show great potential and that’s fantastic for us to tap into and use and help them become as good as they can possibly be. I think we’ve got a really good balance within the group.

"Certain positions we knew we had to strengthen and we feel that we have managed to do that. We’re quite flexible, can play a number of ways, and have different attributes to achieve that throughout the team. So I’m really excited to see us keep getting better as the season progresses."