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Kim Hellberg's bold Middlesbrough squad claim after exciting summer transfer work Middlesbrough are close to completing their sixth and seventh summer signings Kim Hellberg believes Middlesbrough will end the summer transfer window with a better squad than last season - and one with bigger potential too. Boro have so far signed five players this summer, and they’re closing in on two more after deals were agreed with Manchester United and Tottenham for Radek Vitek and Ashley Phillips. It forms what has been a really ambitious and exciting summer recruitment drive from Boro, who have made clear their ambition to achieve promotion next season. They have lost important players from the end of last season, particularly star man Hayden Hackney who joined Everton. But in making some eye-catching signings already, the hopes and expectations have risen on Teesside. Assessing his squad, and what particularly pleases him about the recruitment so far, Hellberg said: “We lost some good players. Hayden, Dael, Tiggs, Browney… four players that played a lot. “Sammy and Gilly, too. So, that was six players that were, I think, in the bracket of the 14 outfield players that played most. “But we’ve also got some very, very good, talented players in. There's a lot of young, talented players that we have signed, which everyone is in the same profile of they want to come here to to be better. They want to develop, they see this is a good club, and that makes me very happy. “And I know Steve, Kieran and Neil are all doing a good job in trying to get the best quality possible for this year, but also for the future. They are all players 25 or younger, which means that there's a lot of potential in it. “So, I think that when we start the season, we're going to be at a higher level. I think we have a higher potential in the players we have here now, and that we're going to have a stronger squad when we start the season.” Hellberg was speaking to preview Boro’s clash with Wrexham - with the Carabao Cup first round clash kicking off the new campaign on Friday evening. However, he would not be drawn on either Vitek or Phillips as both close in on moves to Boro. He did say more signings will be coming though, with Boro still hoping to sign a winger, and maybe a midfielder, before the window closes at the start of September. “We need some more players,” he admitted when asked how close the squad was to being how he wants it. “And of course, we're in a situation where we have some injured players that have been injured for the whole of pre-season that we need back. “But it's getting closer and closer to a very talented group of players, and also a very fun one to work with. There's so much potential in it. “It's a group that wants to do everything they can every second of the day to make the people proud and to better themselves. “I think with the way we played, we also learned a lot together, what we need, what we're looking for, what type of profiles the club wants to go forward with. “I think that is a key thing in the character of the players, in the possibility to get better. It's something that we put a lot of value to when we're looking for players. I'm looking at this squad and seeing that it could be a great year.” ------------- 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.