Middlesbrough have completed the signing of striker Will Lankshear from Tottenham Hotspur, with the 21-year-old putting pen to paper on a five-year contract on Teesside. The deal was confirmed on 22 July 2026 and is reported to be worth up to £20m in total, with an initial fee understood to be around £10m and the rest made up of performance-related add-ons. Tottenham are said to have secured a sell-on clause and matching rights on any future transfer, meaning they can match any offer Boro later accept for the player and will take a cut if he moves on again.
The move addresses a clear need for Middlesbrough, who lost to Hull City in last season's Championship play-off final and missed out on an immediate return to the Premier League. Boro have since lost Marcus Forss and Darragh Lenihan as their contracts were not renewed, seen Alan Browne's loan spell end, and sold midfielder Hayden Hackney to Everton, leaving gaps to fill before the new season. Lankshear was reportedly identified as a priority attacking target almost as soon as the play-off final was over, and Boro saw off competition from other clubs to get the deal done.
For Tottenham, it is the end of the road for a player they brought through from Sheffield United's academy in 2022. Lankshear was named Premier League 2 Player of the Season in 2023/24 and earned a first-team debut in the Europa League against Ferencvaros in October 2024, later scoring his only senior goal for the club against Galatasaray the following month. He made his Premier League debut against Fulham in December 2024, but chances at the top level were always going to be limited given Spurs' attacking options, and he made just six senior appearances in total. The sell-on clause and matching rights inserted into the deal suggest the club still believe there is more to come from him.
Lankshear spent the second half of last season on loan at West Brom before a season-long move to Oxford United for 2025/26, and it was there that he made his name. He finished as Oxford's top scorer with 12 goals in 47 appearances across all competitions, adding two assists, and was voted the club's Young Player of the Season despite Oxford being relegated to League One. It was a standout individual campaign in a difficult team season, and it was enough to convince Middlesbrough to make him one of their marquee summer signings.
At Middlesbrough, Lankshear arrives as a long-term option up front on a lengthy contract that points to serious ambition from the club rather than a short-term fix. Speaking after the move, he said the project at Middlesbrough "really excites" him and that he could not wait to "be part of the journey" and help get the club "back where it belongs" — a clear nod to Boro's Premier League aspirations. With Forss gone and the forward line short of numbers, Lankshear should get an early opportunity to establish himself as a first-choice striker in the Championship, a level at which he has already shown he can score goals regularly.