Michael Carrick is excited to see what Kelechi Iheanacho can bring to Middlesbrough’s attack - making the point that they can benefit from his desperation to play and impress.

Iheanacho joins Boro after a solid career to date that saw him come through the academy ranks at Manchester City before spending seven years at Leicester City. As well as six of those years being in the Premier League and included an FA Cup win, he also helped the Foxes win Championship promotion last term.

He arrives on Teesside with big shoes to fill after Emmanuel Latte Lath’s exit though. His loan move followed a disappointing first half to the season at Sevilla, where he made only five La Liga starts and failed to score a single goal. From a Boro perspective though, Carrick believes that fuels his hunger to impress.

READ MORE: Middlesbrough predicted line-up vs Sheffield United with interesting calls to make in attack

READ MORE: Ben Doak loan comparison made as Middlesbrough hope to benefit from Samuel Iling-Junior unknown

“Kel’s got some great experience and pedigree with the level he’s played at over a long, long period,” the Boro boss said. “He played against us at the Riverside last season, and even though we managed to come out on top that day, I thought he really showed his quality and what he can bring.

“He’s desperate to play. He’s been a fantastic personality since he arrived and has trained great with the boys. He’s desperate to get started.”

Iheanacho’s arrival coincided with Tommy Conway’s return from injury after he suffered a hamstring injury on Boxing Day. Until that point the summer signing from Bristol City had interchanged regularly in the Boro starting line-up with Latte Lath. Though the Ivorian led Boro’s goalscoring charts at the time of his exit, Conway actually had a better goals-per-minute ratio, with the two strikers pushing each other throughout the first half of the campaign.

Suggesting he’ll now use Iheanacho in much the same way with Conway, Carrick continued: “Throughout the season we played a lot with Tommy [Conway] and Manu sharing the load, and when Tommy was fit, the minutes-per-goal ratio was up there as good as anyone.

“We wish Manu all the best and I can’t praise him enough for how handled everything, but things come to an end and you move on. Tommy is here and is a massive part of what we do, and now we’ve added Morgan [Whittaker], Kel and Sam [Iling-Junior] too, to add to what we’ve got.

“We feel like we’ve strengthened in a different way rather than one in, one out or like for like. Across that frontline I think we come out of the window with good balance and really good options.

“Not everyone can play at the same time, but I think we can use that to our advantage. The game is increasingly moving in a direction where you need more players, whether that’s for starting games or coming off the bench at different times. I think we’re in good shape.”