THIS time last year, Middlesbrough and Sunderland were in near-identical situations. They were heading into the summer off the back of play-off disappointment. They were both losing key loanees who had been pivotal performers in the previous season – in the case of Boro, Ryan Giles, Aaron Ramsey and Cameron Archer; for Sunderland, Amad Diallo, and to a slightly lesser extent, Joe Gelhardt.

They knew they would have to recruit at least one new centre-forward, with Boro’s loss of Archer being matched by Sunderland’s return of Gelhardt, and the anticipated sale of Ross Stewart, which eventually went through on deadline day. However, while an extensive rebuild was necessary at both clubs, they boasted popular head coaches who had been in position for around a year, and who could count on the support of a fanbase that was energised and wholeheartedly behind the club.

Fast forward 12 months, and the similarities that were bringing the two clubs together last year are no long apparent. At the start of this summer’s break, Middlesbrough and Sunderland could hardly be in more different positions.

Let’s take Boro first, a club that appear perfectly-positioned to kick on from last season’s eighth-placed finish in order to mount a viable promotion push next term. On Teesside, stability is the name of the game, with evolution rather than revolution being the ambition this summer.

The final two months of last season, which featured just one defeat in the final 12 matches, were a crucial spell for Boro, generating positive momentum and highlighting the depth of quality that exists within the current squad.

There is a need to add to that quality in specific areas, as confirmed by Kieran Scott’s interview with The Northern Echo earlier this week in which the head of football revealed he was hoping to make ‘four or five high-quality additions’ this summer. However, there will not be the kind of radical overhaul that was required 12 months ago and that undoubtedly hampered performances and results in the opening few weeks of the season.

With the building blocks in place, the recruitment process is already at a reasonably advanced stage. Luke Ayling was confirmed as the first summer addition earlier this week, with the full-back turning his loan move from Leeds United into a permanent transfer, and talks with at least another couple of long-term targets are progressing well. Boro’s recruitment team, who have already unearthed a couple of diamonds in the last year or so, know what they want, and are confident they will be able to get it.

There could well be interest in some of Boro’s star names – Rav van den Berg, Hayden Hackney, Emmanuel Latte Lath – but there is a determination to hold on to the club’s key performers which comes from the very top. If Steve Gibson is adamant he does not want to sell, it is going to take an astronomical offer to make him change his mind.

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Aaron Danks’ potential departure to Bayern Munich could disrupt things slightly, but Boro have plans in place for that eventuality and the key man in the coaching set-up, Michael Carrick, is firmly ensconced in the Riverside hotseat. The signing of a new contract is understood to be imminent, which will further cement the sense of stability and effective long-term planning. All things being equal, Boro could not be much better placed as they turn their attention to next season.

Now, compare that to events on Wearside. Whereas Boro finished last season superbly, engendering positivity and goodwill, Sunderland finished the campaign horrendously, winning just two of their final 15 matches. Unsurprisingly, negativity became all-pervasive during such a dreadful run.

There are so many question marks hanging over the current squad. Will Jack Clarke be sold? Is Jobe Bellingham on his way out, with strong links to Crystal Palace and Brentford having emerged in the last 24 hours? What about Anthony Patterson and Dan Neil? Can Kyril Louis-Dreyfus turn down bids for the club’s star players, in the way that Gibson repeatedly has in the past with Boro? Or is Sunderland’s entire ‘project’ dependent on eventually moving players on?

Who will be coming in this summer? Unlike Boro, whose recruitment process is already under way and whose head of football could hardly have been clearer about his aims, Sunderland’s transfer business is yet to begin and remains shrouded in mystery. Presumably, it will involve the purchase of more untried youngsters. At the moment, though, a squad that finished just six points above the relegation places next season remains in drastic need of improvement.

Then, of course, there is the small matter of the lack of a head coach. This week marked 100 days since Sunderland dismissed Michael Beale, a landmark that underlines just how badly things have been allowed to drift. For all the speculation that has swirled around in the last three months, the club appears to be no closer to appointing Beale’s permanent successor, a shambolic situation that surely now has every chance of negatively affecting preparations for next season. Will Still? Paul Heckingbottom? Raphael Wicky? I’ll be honest, at the moment, your guess is as good as mine.

Football being football, none of that guarantees that Sunderland will struggle next season, just as Boro’s stability does not guarantee they will be pushing for promotion. If you had to choose, though, you’d undoubtedly take the latter’s position above the former’s if you were wanting to select the ideal way to head into a summer.

Perhaps Sunderland will pull things out of the fire. Perhaps Louis-Dreyfus and Kristjaan Speakman have a masterplan that will become clear in the next couple of months. Perhaps Boro will encounter problems that cannot currently be foreseen. Who knows. But if you compare the situation now to the one that existed 12 months ago, the extent to which the two clubs have followed divergent paths is remarkable.