[2] Aitor Karanka, who had managed the club from November 2013, was sacked in March 2017 after a poor run of results, having not won in ten matches and having occupied a place in the relegation zone.

[6] Nathan Convery,[7] Bradley Fewster,[7] Brandon Holdsworth,[7] Lewis Maloney,[7] Niall McGoldrick,[7] Junior Mondal,[7] Josef Wheatley,[7] Matthew Wilson,[7] Víctor Valdés,[8] Brad Guzan[9] and Viktor Fischer[10] were amongst the first players to leave the club in the summer 2017 transfer window.

Further departures would include Bernardo Espinosa[11] and Cristhian Stuani,[12] who both completed moves to Girona, while James Husband[13] would leave for Norwich City, defender Antonio Barragán would depart on a season-long loan to Spanish club Real Betis, midfielder Gastón Ramírez would depart for Sampdoria, and the club also terminated the contract of Carlos de Pena[14] by mutual consent.

[18][19] As of 3 July 2017, Middlesbrough have announced five pre-season friendlies, against Mansfield Town, Rochdale,[21] Oxford United, Chesterfield[22] and FC Augsburg.

Source: [citation needed] In the FA Cup, Middlesbrough entered the competition in the third round and were drawn at home versus Sunderland.