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Kim Hellberg's message to Middlesbrough players as Radek Vitek arrival sums up competition hope Radek Vitek joins from Manchester United to challenge Sol Brynn for the number one spot Kim Hellberg has warned his Middlesbrough players they have to be ready to make an impact, whether regularly or not, as competition for places heats up this season. While Boro still have some work to do in this summer's transfer window, the squad already has stronger competition for places in many areas. That is particularly encapsulated in goal, with Radek Vitek the club's most recent signing from Manchester United. Boro will pay an initial £7m fee for the Czech keeper. And with that in mind, he arrives fully expecting to be first choice on Teesside this season. He is in line to make his debut on Saturday against Lincoln City. “He’s been very impressive," Hellberg said. "I think you can see now we have a goalie set-up that is brilliant. You need to be able to compete and I told the players the same thing. That's the negative of being in a very good team, because there will be higher competition for places.” Vitek's arrival leaves some uncertainty around Sol Brynn, with the Teessider stepping up as number one last term. But Vitek’s arrival would appear to indicate he has been displaced. Boro's hope is that Brynn stays though and, as Hellberg refers to, pushes Vitek hard for his spot, while continuing his own development. That would leave Boro trying to offload Seny Dieng, with no need for four senior goalkeepers in their squad. But in general, that level of competition is exactly what Hellberg wants to see, as he sent a strong message to his whole squad. He continued: “If you want to play every game all the time, you need to go to a lower team because that's the fair amount of it. If you are the best player in the team, you often play all the games. “But with that now, we have a better competition for the spots, and then it's down to the players all the time to be good when they get the chance. “We talked about that. In this type of league, you always know you're going to get the chance if you stay fit, if you train hard, because there could be 20 games of you being on the bench, but then something happens. “I could name five or four players last season that were in exactly the same situation - didn't play anything, and then they got the chance. And some of them were fit and strong and could make an impression when they got the chance. Some of them weren't. “That's the thing for the players to remember, and for everyone to remember: keep working as hard as you can, because when you get the chance, you need to be ready to take it. “I think I have a squad now that is brilliant at that. So, there will be massive competition on the training ground, and that is what we need to take the next step. “There will be competition about the spots in the team, and we can change five every game and feel like, hopefully, we can have the same quality. That's a different feeling than I had last season. It’s perfect.” ------------- Get Teesside Live Premium now for just £1 HERE – exclusive Boro news and features, transfer notebooks, comment and analysis from Eric Paylor, plus an ad-lite experience Join our WhatsApp community to get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe. Your information will be hidden, you'll only ever receive messages from the Teesside Live sports team, and you can leave any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'Exit group'. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.