Middlesbrough brought in three new senior players during the January transfer window.
Attacking midfielder Finn Azaz was brought in on a permanent deal from Premier League side Aston Villa. That came after he had impressed on loan at Plymouth Argyle during the first half of the season.
Meanwhile, full-back duo Luke Ayling and Luke Thomas joined on loan until the end of the season.
The pair joined Michael Carrick‘s side from two Championship promotion hopefuls, in the form of Leeds United and Leicester City respectively.
However, not every player who Middlesbrough targeted in January, eventually made the move to The Riverside Stadium before the window closed.
Burnley winger was linked with ‘Boro move
Following the end of the window, it was reported that ‘Boro had enquired about a late move for Burnley’s Manuel Benson.
Ultimately though, no deal to bring the 26-year-old to The Riverside Stadium would materialise.
Instead, the winger is said to have favoured remaining at Turf Moor, where he only signed a new contract earlier in the current campaign.
However, having turned down that move, there may now be an argument that Benson could well be regretting his decision not to pursue that move to Middlesbrough.
Middlesbrough could have given Manuel Benson game time
Last season, Benson ejoyed an excellent debut campaign for Burnley. The winger had been a key man for the Clarets in their Championship promotion campaign.
Indeed, he even scored the goal that secured them the second-tier title. Indeed, Clarets manager Vincent Kompany would hail Benson’s contributions as ‘fantastic’ last season. However, the current campaign has been a rather different story.
So far this season, Benson has made just six Premier League appearances for Kompany’s side.
Only two of those outings have come since those January links with Middlesbrough, both of which were as a late substitute.
With that in mind, the 26-year-old is not getting the game time he surely would have wanted at this stage of his career.
However, that could have been different had he made the move to Middlesbrough. Benson’s experience of winning promotion at this level, would have made it hard for Carrick to leave him out of his side.
Indeed, with Isaiah Jones also having been out through injury recently, there would have been a void in his natural right-wing position for Benson to fill.
It is also worth noting that ‘Boro are not entirely out of the play-off race just yet. They currently sit 10th in the Championship table, seven points adrift of the top six.
Someone with the quality that Benson has at this level, may have been able to help Middlesbrough pick up some useful extra points.
That in turn, could have propelled them into much stronger contention for a place in the top six, and offered the winger a more enjoyable situation, than the relegation battle he is in at Burnley.
As a result, it does seem as though turning down the chance to make that move to Middlesbrough, may prove something of a missed opportunity for Benson.