South American winger’s £2.6 million transfer to Middlesbrough only
Middlesbrough’s 2015 recruitment of Carlos De Pena proved to be an expensive mistake.
De Pena didn’t have any effect at the team, even if a substantial transfer price was paid.
Due to his lackluster performance in his few appearances—neither goals nor assists—De Pena’s contract was terminated at Middlesbrough.
In terms of incoming transfer window activity, Middlesbrough had a busy summer of 2015.
The team painfully lost out on promotion to the Premier League in the 2014–15 season as a result of losing to Norwich City 2-0 in the Championship play-off final.
This made it clear that the team wanted to improve upon its performance in the 2015–16 season, and it sparked an exciting summer as they assembled a team capable of accomplishing so.
Ten players in all, either on loan or permanently, were added to The Riverside Stadium’s first team roster.
Carlos De Pena was the tenth person to finish moving to Middlesbrough when the window ended
Carlos De Pena was acquired by Boro for a hefty sum.
The club said they had finished signing De Pena on the last day of the 2015 summer transfer window.
The winger came from his native Uruguay, where he had played all of his professional career at Nacional.
After a hurried battle against time to complete the deal, it was claimed that Middlesbrough paid a £2.6 million price to sign the 23-year-old.
De Pena agreed to a three-year contract at The Riverside Stadium, but it doesn’t seem like the money and effort used to close the deal were worthwhile in the end.
For Middlesbrough, Carlos De Pena never had any influence.
After completing his transfer to the Riverside Stadium, De Pena was never able to establish himself in England.
During the winger’s first season with the team, Middlesbrough would actually gain promotion back to the Premier League, but he had very little say in that outcome.
De Pena only managed six Championship appearances for the team during the 2015–16 season.
Throughout the season, he played just three starts and never finished a full ninety minutes since he seemed to be having trouble adjusting to life in England.
In fact, De Pena’s inability to score or assist for Middlesbrough in the Championship during that promotion-winning season showed how difficult it was for him to leave an impression.
The winger’s next season was even more difficult as Boro made a return to the Premier League for the 2016–17 campaign.
De Pena was loaned to Real Oviedo in the January transfer window after failing to make a single competitive appearance for the team that season.
De Pena’s stay back at Middlesbrough after that loan ended in the summer of 2017 turned out to be short.
With one year left on his contract, the winger’s agreement at The Riverside Stadium was confirmed to have been canceled by mutual consent during the same transfer window.
