It's been a busy start to the summer transfer window at Middlesbrough, so what happens next?

A striker is still a must for Sunderland this summer but there's been a dramatic twist elsewhere with a player who was a January target.

And what can Newcastle expect from new performance director James Bunce? That all features in this week's North East Notes:

BORO'S TRANSFER CONSIDERATIONS

After their hugely positive start to the summer window, Middlesbrough are now taking a step back and assessing their next move in the transfer market.

Boro burst out of the blocks with the captures of Luke Ayling, Delano Burgzorg and Aidan Morris, while Harley Hunt has also joined the academy ranks.

The Championship promotion hopefuls are keen to further bolster their squad this summer but will be patient and take stock, with Michael Carrick delighted with the squad currently at his disposal.

A striker has been on Boro's summer wishlist and while they're still closely monitoring that market and potential targets and could yet bolster their forward line before the end of the window, it's not currently deemed quite as pressing a priority as was previously the case. Josh Coburn is understood to have looked extremely sharp since the start of pre-season and impressed coaches, while Burgzorg is also comfortable playing as a striker.

Coburn will be desperate to make a mark this year after last season was heavily disrupted by injury for the Bedale-born striker. This time last year, Coburn looked set to be going out on loan but he forced Boro's coaches into a rethink. And now he's looking to once again make his mark in the summer.

Boro remain interested in bringing Ryan Giles back to the Riverside, though will also be patient in that pursuit. Boro are in a strong position, with City well aware of the full-back's wish to return to Teesside and keen to offload the 24-year-old as they look to balance the books this summer. The Tigers are well stocked at left-back. They travelled to Turkey for a pre-season training camp this week with a squad of just 19 - which included four left-backs!

Hull were contractually obligated to make Giles' deal permanent on the back of a loan spell at the MKM Stadium in the second half of last season.

EX-SUNDERLAND TARGET IN TRANSFER TWIST

Staying with Hull, they were dealt a transfer blow at the end of this week when Kieffer Moore - a target for Sunderland back in January - had a dramatic last minute change of heart.

Moore was set to join Hull from Bournemouth, with the Tigers expecting the 31-year-old to fly to Turkey and join their squad on Friday afternoon.

But there was a major late twist, with Moore instead deciding to join Sheffield United.

United boss Chris Wilder was reluctant to give too much away when quizzed on Moore on Saturday, saying: “Until they get that shirt on. I’ve been involved in too many deals where I’ve said it’s close and this that and the other, and it doesn’t get over the line."

But reports in Sheffield say the Moore signing is expected to be finalised in the next day or two.

It's a boost for the Blades and Wilder, who is looking to ensure there's no lingering hangover after last season's Premier League relegation.

As for Hull, it's another blow in what has been a tough start to the window. Their only signing so far is Giles, who they expect to join Boro.

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MITCHELL, BUNCE AND THE POWER OF POSSIBILITY

He won't kick a ball in black and white but James Bunce could prove to be one of Paul Mitchell's most significant signings at Newcastle.

The pair have worked together previously at Monaco and will be singing from the same hymn sheet when it comes to their plans and aims on Tyneside after Bunce was this week confirmed as the Magpies' new performance director.

Bunce has previously described alignment at a football club as a "dream in the industry" and that's the ambition behind the scenes at St James' Park.

And the new sporting director and performance director won't be afraid to be bold. Crucial for Bunce is "conviction, courage and collective buy-in."

In an interview with The Athletic during his time at Monaco, Bunce said: “When I joined, I stated to my staff and to the ownership that I wanted Monaco to be an outlier within the French system. It is not known to be the top physical league, which is often the Premier League with teams like Liverpool and Leeds.

"I didn’t want us to just conform and be doing OK in our own French league. We don’t want to accept people saying it is not possible, or accept it when people say a coach cannot individualise a training session, or when people say that players cannot eat two meals a day together, or that players might not have their blood taken. When people believe a player won’t do it, the conversation dies.

“It is possible; with conviction, courage and collective buy-in. That means explaining things to players. You do have to endure the period of things being new and making them a habit. We have one of the best sporting directors in world football but also one of the bravest and most logical. He will not accept the argument of ‘yeah, but football has always done it that way’. His view is ‘why would we do it in any direction that can lead to lower performance?’. I believe you can do this with high ego players, too, if you have structure and conviction.”