2009/10 to 2017/18

Middlesbrough spent one of the nine seasons from 2009/10 to 2017/18 in the Premier League and eight in the Championship. Their best finish was 19th, in 2016/17. They didn’t win a major trophy. Over those nine summers they paid £89.7m in transfer fees and took in £46.7m, a net spend of £43.1m.

Middlesbrough started this period in the Championship and spent six seasons trying to get out of it. Mid-table finishes gave way to fourth place in 2014/15 and a play-off final defeat to Norwich. A year later they finished second with 89 points and were promoted.

The Premier League return lasted a single season. Boro spent on Marten de Roon from Atalanta and Adama Traoré from Aston Villa, and still went down in 19th with 28 points. They spent big again for 2017/18, including £15m on Britt Assombalonga, and finished fifth.

There is a neat circle in the Boro transfer record. Stewart Downing was sold to Aston Villa for £12m in 2009 and bought back from West Ham for £5.5m in 2015. On 115.football, with £900m from the start, he need not leave at all, and the long road back to the top flight can be a short one.