Rokas Pukstas: The Midfield Engine Middlesbrough Needs

Middlesbrough have gone to Croatia for their new midfield engine, and they know exactly what they’re getting: legs, lungs and late runs.

Rokas Pukstas arrives on Teesside with a clear identity. At 22, he has already stacked up 142 first-team games for Hajduk Split, scoring 27 goals and adding 10 assists. All of that football has come in Croatia. Now comes the jump to the English game.

For Kim Hellberg, that leap is less about reputation and more about profile. Pukstas brings a very specific threat.

Master of the late run

Croatian football journalist Lovre Nikolac has watched Pukstas closely and sees one standout weapon: his timing into the box.

"One of Pukstas' main qualities is arriving late in the box to provide a goal threat," Nikolac told BBC Radio Tees. Defenders think the danger has passed, then he appears.

He doesn’t just time his runs. He dominates in the air.

"As soon as he steps on the pitch, as soon as there's an aerial duel, he wins it," Nikolac said. "He can jump high. He's very strong and his play with headers is amazing. If there's one thing that he cannot improve on, I think it's that."

Second balls, loose balls, rebounds – he hunts them.

"He arrives late and [also] picks up the scraps sometimes," Nikolac added. It’s the kind of knack that turns tight Championship games.

Built for Hellberg’s demands

Hellberg wants intensity from his midfield. Pukstas lives in that space.

Nikolac describes an almost relentless runner, a player whose work without the ball defines him as much as his goals.

"Obviously we can talk about the goals, but it's what he does off the ball," he said. "He just runs. There's no other way to put it. He never stops and he does everything that's needed from him."

Box-to-box isn’t just a label here, it’s a job description.

"And he's box to box, so up and down the pitch the whole game and never looks tired," Nikolac continued. For a side that often looks to press and break quickly, that stamina is a weapon in itself.

The flaw that could complete him

For all the praise, there is one clear area where Pukstas must grow if he is to dominate in England: his passing.

Nikolac is blunt about it.

"He's not great at passing, but everything else he's got spot on. Defending, reading the game, late arrivals, scoring goals," he said.

That technical side, especially under pressure, will be tested far more in the Championship than in Croatia. The upside? If he sharpens that part of his game, the ceiling rises dramatically.

"But if he can improve that, then you have a whole player, a true midfielder. You can use him wherever you want. He has the physicality to do anything," Nikolac added.

Middlesbrough haven’t signed a luxury playmaker. They’ve signed a runner, a reader of space, a box-crasher who wins headers and never seems to fade. If the passing catches up with the rest, Hellberg might just have the complete modern midfielder on his hands.