FRIDAY'S signing of Tommy Conway was, for Middlesbrough, the result of patience and, in the week Michael Carrick praised the recruitment team's planning, a reward for sticking to their guns this summer.

While Boro made a flying start to the window with the captures of Luke Ayling, Aidan Morris and Delano Burgzorg, the message on and off the record from the start of the summer was that they'd be willing to play the long game in their pursuit of a striker.

At the time, it wasn't necessarily clear why that was the case but over the last few weeks the reasoning has become evident: Boro wanted their top target - Conway - and had to bide their time to see how his contract situation at Bristol City would play out.

Back in May and June there was no guarantee that Conway would end up at the Riverside this summer but that didn't stop Boro rejecting the advances of agents offering countless other strikers. They had alternate plans in place in case they missed out on Conway, but they didn't want to settle for second, third or fourth best when there was still a chance to sign a player who they first started watching and monitoring back in September of 2022.

A month earlier, Conway had bagged his first Bristol City brace in an emphatic 4-1 win at Coventry City and, although he'd only made nine Championship appearances prior to the 2023/23 campaign, was quickly on his way to becoming an exciting first team regular at Ashton Gate.

"Tommy was in and around our squad last year and he's a player who we think has got a lot of qualities which will lend themselves to being very useful in the first-team," said Nigel Pearson, Bristol City boss at the time.

"He's a youngster and he's very hungry for success and he works exceptionally hard and on a physical level and a psychological level he's made great strides over the last 12 months. That's a testament to how he approaches his work."

Conway hit double figures in successive seasons for Bristol City, impressive considering the Robins were ranked 21st and 17th in the shots per game standings in those two campaigns.

Boro have studied video analysis of Conway over the course of the last couple of years and also watched the young striker in person, with Boro's head of recruitment Chris Jones in the stands when the 22-year-old stole the headlines against West Ham United in the FA Cup last season.

Conway scored Bristol City's goal in a 1-1 draw at the London Stadium in January before hitting the winner when the Robins came out on top in the replay.

And in an interview with Sky Sports immediately after that West Ham win, talking about his battle with Hammers defender Kurt Zouma, Conway's confidence and burning ambition was clear.

"In the two games I’ve played I haven’t seen a massive difference between Championship and Premier League," he said.

"Obviously, he’s won Premier Leagues and Champions Leagues, so he’s had a really good career but, for me, that’s where I want to be.”

And he believes he can and will get there with Boro.

"From the moment I spoke to the gaffer I knew straight away I wanted to come here," said Conway after putting pen to paper on a four-year deal on Friday.

"It was about being patient for the club to agree between themselves.

"You can see a track record of what the gaffer has done here with players. I know Hayden (Hackney) well from my time at Scotland. I spoke to Hayden numerous times about the club and the area and he really sold it to me."

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It's no secret that Conway was in demand this summer. After it became clear that he had no intentions of signing a new contract with Bristol City, a Championship scrap for his signature ensued.

Burnley were keen and made a move, while Hull City and Norwich also wanted Conway. But the striker quickly made it clear that Boro was the move he wanted, despite more lucrative offers elsewhere. Hull and Norwich quickly turned their attention elsewhere, while Burnley always knew they were up against it and Boro were in the driving seat.

While Carrick was a huge selling point for Conway, head of football Kieran Scott and head of recruitment Jones have worked tirelessly in the last couple of months to sell the club and their ambitions to Conway and his representatives.

Boro are understood to be excited by Conway's potential and believe the striker has the ideal attributes to be a success in Carrick's style and system.

There will, however, be patience with the striker, who will be allowed to get up to speed. Conway has trained with Bristol City's Under-21s in the summer and didn't feature in any of the pre-season friendlies for Liam Manning's side once it became clear his exit was inevitable.

It's been quite the summer for Conway, who got the transfer he craved following a call-up to the Scotland squad for the European Championships.

That said, he'd planned to go to Germany regardless of whether he was in Steve Clarke's squad or not.

“Scott Murray funnily enough is the kitman at Bristol City," said Conway earlier this summer.

"He’s driving from Bristol to Germany with his brother. If I’m not going I said I’d be jumping in with him. It’ll be class."

Now, the journey he's focused on is helping Boro win promotion to the Premier League - and he wants to repay the fans for the love he's felt on social media while transfer negotiations were taking place.

"I was aware of that and to have that and be wanted like that is something you crave as a footballer," he said.

"Now, I want to give back to the fans."