But in the background, there’s always an eye on the bigger picture and potential longer-term opportunities.
Which is what has taken Boro to Asia over the course of the last year or so on several scouting and recruitment missions.
Kieran Scott recently revealed in his fascinating feature-long interview with BBC Tees’ Mark Drury that Boro were closely looking at the Asian market.
Boro have had success shopping in relatively untapped markets in recent years, with Aidan Morris arriving from the MLS last summer and Emmanuel Latte Lath joining the club on the back of a stint in Switzerland 12 months earlier.
Australia is another area they’ve monitored closely in the past, leading to the signings of Sammy Silvera and Tom Glover a couple of years ago.
For Boro, it’s about looking at markets where there might be value for money – which they believe could potentially be the case in Japan and South Korea.
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With that in mind, Boro’s head of recruitment Chris Jones has made a number of trips over the course of the last year and now, says Scott, the Championship leaders are “starting to generate players we like”.
“The market is good and the value for money is really good,” said Scott.
“The mentality is really good as well, so it is a market we’re looking at.”
But for Jones and the Boro’s recruitment operation, it’s not just about going out and making a note of players who might catch the eye. An awful lot more work has gone in over the course of the last year.
In Japan, for example, the initial focus was on understanding the culture in different parts of the country and, from a football perspective, closely assessing the level, figuring out the intensity, quality and physicality and comparing with the Championship and Premier League. Are there some positions that might suit Boro more than others?
The university system also has to be understood. Some players in Japan don’t go professional until they’re aged between 21 and 23, so that needs to be considered to ensure players aren’t written off.
And, as is always a priority for Boro’s recruitment staff, it’s about contacts – both building and maintaining. Jones has met with clubs and agents, not necessarily to speak about individuals at this stage but to develop that deep understanding of the league and players.
Now it’s by no means a guarantee that Boro will make any signings from that part of the world in January, next summer or even the window or two beyond that.
But a list of potential targets has now been compiled and will be closely assessed in the short and long term, and crucial for Boro is that if opportunities do arise in that specific market, they’ll be in a position where they’re ready to act.
The exhaustive recruitment work behind the scenes has impressed head coach Rob Edwards enormously.
Speaking on the Northern Echo’s You Are My Boro podcast, he said this week: “Jonesy is so hard-working, he seems to know every player in the world!”
Breckin is equally as committed to his work, though his overseas focus is more on European markets.
“Their air miles are unbelievable,” laughed Scott in the interview with BBC Tees.
“Mine are more motorway and when I go I have to go to do something specific.
“But they’re out all the time. There’s a ruling that’s come into play where if you’re out a certain amount of days you can’t go, so we’ve had to look at that, certainly with Ian and Chris because they won’t be able to go on holiday!”
The type of background work Boro’s recruitment team are currently carrying out in Asia is what was done in the United States in the past, and led to the signings of Aidan Morris last summer and Adilson Malanda last month.
In the summer, Boro also targeted Columbus Crew defender Max Arfsten but had to admit defeat – at least temporarily – in that pursuit.
Riley McGree had been watched in the MLS before he joined Birmingham.
Where the MLS is concerned, Boro were very much ahead of the curve.
Scott said: “Aidan has done brilliant. He shows they can make that jump from the MLS and a lot of players are.
“I think the league is a bit underrated. I don’t want to say that too loud, but I don’t think many people see the value in what’s there.
“The only thing I would say, as the MLS grows it will be a lot harder to buy players from,
“The owners have serious, serious money. They don’t really need to sell and the product is getting good enough now where they might keep them there a bit longer because they can pay huge salaries as well.
“It’s a good league. There are a lot of good leagues out there.”
AloJapan.com