MIDDLESBROUGH'S preparation for future transfer windows is already underway, with the club's recruitment team having met at Rockliffe last week to map out their plans for the coming months.

Boro chiefs were delighted with their summer business, with the club having landed several top targets and ticking all the boxes that were identified as priorities before the window.

But with trading now closed, the recruitment staff immediately turned their attention to January and even next summer's window - with head of football Kieran Scott urging his team to build on their position of strength.

Boro reaped their rewards of early planning in this summer's window and will look to do the same again moving forward, with lists of potential targets already drawn up, including players approaching the end of their contracts whose situations will be closely monitored.

Scott works hand in hand with Boro's head of recruitment Chris Jones, who leads the club's two senior scouts, Ian Breckin and Tom Reeves.

"The guys, Chris and his scouting team came in yesterday and we all sat down and discussed January and what I want from them in terms of moving it up a level now," said Scott last week on the Northern Echo's You Are My Boro podcast.

"There's a good squad there. It's not mass building of groups now, it's individuals we target.

"The window stuff finishes but then we get ready for the next one. We were even discussing players yesterday who are out of contract in the summer for both scenarios, whether it's the Premier League or Championship.

"We're always taking players off lists, putting players on lists. We spoke about certain countries that we think suit Michael and what he wants from players and being a bit more aggressive in those countries."

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When it comes to scouting, Scott and Jones stress the importance of monitoring players in every position - not just departments that might be immediate priorities.

That's why Boro were able to strike for Neto Borges this summer, despite the fact strengthening at left-back wasn't a pressing issue at the start of the window. Boro were forced to act after Alex Bangura's pre-season injury.

Scott said: "It's something that I talk to Chris a lot about. Right now, we have five midfielders, for example, five good level midfielders. But there's nothing to say that won't change.

"So don't sit back and think don't scout midfielders because we have five at the minute and we're strong in there. I always encourage Chris and the guys to keep scouting everywhere.

"Even if you think we're at our strongest, keep scouting, players that are good enough, players that suit what we are. We have to do a lot of digging into the mentality of players because to play for Michael and Woody, certain things mentally have to be right.

"So we do our work on every position all the time so we don't get caught short. What you don't want is something to go wrong in midfield and think we didn't scout any because we had five good ones. We scout every position.

"A lot of it is gauged on players. I always say you can't find a player who isn't there. I always say to the guys to watch games and teams and find individuals who fit us and we keep populating lists with players who suit us."

Reflecting on the summer window, Scott said: "We had a plan and we did our best to execute it as we could. There's always scope for more but we felt like most of the thing we set out to do, we achieved.

"We've been scouting a lot of players for a long time, we've got to know Michael and what he likes from players. It all just knitted together really well. That's come from a lot of communication, a lot of hard work, lots of meetings and it came together so we were able to execute a plan."

Watch our interview with Kieran Scott in full HERE.