DELIGHTED Kieran Scott says Middlesbrough "got what they wanted" during a successful transfer window and believes the summer business has left Michael Carrick with a strong and balanced squad.

Boro enjoyed an impressive and efficient window, landing top targets - several early on in the summer - and strengthening in priority areas, with Scott admitting the window "went to plan".

The likes of Luke Ayling, Aidan Morris and Delano Burgzorg were through the door before the start of pre-season, with Micah Hamilton and Tommy Conway both following long before the end of the window. Neto Borges then arrived last week with Boro having prioritised the capture of a left-back after Alex Bangura's summer injury.

The first six senior signings - as well as youngster Harley Hunt - all arrived on permanent deals before Boro dipped into the loan market in the final hours of the window to sign Premier League duo Ben Doak and George Edmundson.

“As a whole, I think the window went well," said Scott, Boro's head of football.

"We had certain targets that we wanted to hit coming into the window and I think we got what we wanted. We’ve brought some good assets to the football club, we’ve brought some older heads like Luke Ayling in and we’ve really balance the group off well. Hopefully that will show on the pitch."

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Last summer Boro had to be reactive after the exit of several key loanees and the departure of star man Chuba Akpom whereas this time around the club's recruitment team were able to put a plan in place long before the end of last season.

“We still had to bring eight players in, so that’s still quite a few players to bring in in one window," said Scott in an interview with the club website.

"But I did feel this time around it was more focused on the areas we needed, and it’s a lot more players that were brought in on a permanent basis.

"There were two loans at the end of the window, but the majority of the players that we brought into the first-team environment - I’ll leave Harley Hunt out of that category for now, as he’s an under-21 player - have all arrived to hit the targets that we set at the start of the window. So it’s gone to plan.

“It’s not always easy to achieve. We plan and we have targets and we set out to try and achieve that at the start of the window. But it isn't always as easy as that. What has happened over the past couple of years, selling players like Morgan (Rogers) and Chuba and so on, that money then allows us to reinvest at the right time.

"What we don’t want to do is just panic buy. It’s always got to be the right player, right profile, fit everything that we’re trying to do. With players like Tommy [Conway], Aidan [Morris] etc. we felt those players were the right fits, it was just a case of making sure we could get the deals done."

Scott admits his job is made easier thanks to the profile of Boro's head coach.

“Michael is a really big pull and there is no getting away from that," he said.

"His career, the level he played at… He’s one of the most humble people you could meet and he doesn’t talk about that enough at times. But, I think in this instance it shows: one - we’re a big football club in this division and people want to come here for that, but two - having Michael, and Jonathan [Woodgate] as well, it really does help sell the environment and the people you’re working with."