Will Lankshear's Stunning Middlesbrough Debut
Will Lankshear needed just 61 minutes of his Middlesbrough debut to justify the hype. One clean swing of his boot, one ruthless volley, and Wrexham were out of the EFL Cup.
For Kim Hellberg, it confirmed what he already believed.
The Boro head coach did not hold back afterwards, calling the 21-year-old striker “the best finisher I’ve ever seen” after the England Under-21 forward marked his first appearance with the only goal of a tight first-round tie.
The strike itself matched the billing. As the game at last opened up in the second half, Lankshear found his moment, peeling into space and meeting the chance with the kind of crisp, decisive contact that turns half-chances into headlines. One opportunity, buried. Tie settled.
This is exactly why Middlesbrough moved for him. Signed from Tottenham Hotspur in a deal initially thought to be worth £10 million, Lankshear arrived on Teesside as the answer to a nagging question: could Boro add real penalty-box menace to all their neat approach play?
Early Verdict
Hellberg’s early verdict is emphatic.
“I’ve seen the trainings and he’s the best finisher I’ve ever seen in terms of left foot, right foot, how hard he shoots, his headers,” he told BBC Radio Tees. “I’m not surprised he can do these goals.”
The numbers from last season’s Championship table underlined how little separated these two sides, just two places apart. The match reflected that. Wrexham were organised, stubborn, and in the contest throughout. It needed a moment of higher quality to break it. Lankshear supplied it.
For Middlesbrough, still nursing the scars of promotion heartache in May and reshaping the squad with fresh faces, that matters. They do not just need talent; they need players who can walk into a tense cup tie and behave as if they belong.
What has struck Hellberg most is that Lankshear seems determined to do exactly that.
“The best thing with him is how he is as a person,” the Swede said. “How hard he works, how much he wants to learn, how quick he is to adapt. That’s been absolutely brilliant.
“Add on to that, the quality he has, he’s an unbelievable player and he’s just going to get better.”
One goal in one game is only a start. But when your head coach is already calling you the best finisher he has ever seen, and your first meaningful touch of a cup tie sends your new club through, the message is clear enough.
Middlesbrough were looking for a sharper edge. In Will Lankshear, they may just have found it.
