Kieran Scott is unlikely to be getting a new contract at Middlesbrough despite national media reports to the contrary - though that’s more because there is no need to.
A report over the weekend suggested that Boro would be handing their head of football a new contract as a show of faith to the recruitment specialist. The report comes as the club conduct a review into the season and the direction of travel moving forward. However, Boro sources have played down the contract news, though it’s hoped and expected that Scott will be staying at the club this summer amid recent interest from Premier League clubs.
The reason Scott won’t be getting a new contract is because he isn’t on a fixed-term deal like players and coaches, which effectively means their employment at the club is only for a set time. Instead, like most other employees at the football club, Scott is on a permanent contract which means there’s no predetermined end date and it continues until terminated by either the employer or the employee.
Such is standard across the game and indeed was the case when Scott joined Boro from Norwich City in September 2021. News of Scott’s arrival came a month earlier but as per the terms of his Canaries employment contract, he had to serve a month’s notice period and therefore arrived after that summer's transfer window had finished.
At Boro, Scott would only need a new contract if his role or the duties of his role were to change, but neither of those are expected to happen. As the club continue with their post-season review, Scott is expected to have the backing of Steve Gibson to continue overseeing football operations on Teesside and any changes that are agreed off the back of the reviews.
Though not his only focus, since arriving at Boro, Scott has overseen a huge transformation of Boro’s recruitment team and strategy, which has massively improved the club’s financial picture in a difficult post-Covid landscape. Together with head of recruitment Chris Jones, the pair have overhauled the scouting team while being tasked with finding gems and value for money in the market, with player trading a key factor in ensuring the club complies with PSR while maintaining a competitive squad.
In signing players like Emmanuel Latte Lath and Morgan Rogers, who have earned the club considerable profit in recent years, and also the likes of Finn Azaz, Aidan Morris Tommy Conway and Rav van den Berg, who will also have a bigger market value than signed for when they come to move on, Scott has earned plaudits from those inside the club as well as most supporters.
However, with Boro’s aim above all else still to achieve promotion to the Premier League, part of the club’s review is ensuring they strike the right balance on the recruitment front. Scott will be keen to get going once again this summer in his ambitions to try and build a squad capable of challenging for a top-six spot next term, particularly after a difficult January transfer window.