I finally feel at home at Boro - Sarmiento

Middlesbrough winger Jeremy Sarmiento said he is delighted to finally feel at home after making his move to the Riverside Stadium a permanent one. The 24-year-old had been on five different loan spells since 2023 from his previous club Brighton & Hove Albion, including spending the second half of last season with Boro. But after completing his switch in June , the Ecuadorian will hope to play an entire season at his parent club for the first time since 2022-23 when he did so with the Seagulls. "I'm very happy. I'm delighted, my family also, to feel at home somewhere," Sarmiento told BBC Radio Tees . "I've been on quite a few loan spells, so it feels good to finally settle in somewhere where you feel loved. "It's great and the fans have been loving to me as well, which I appreciate a lot." Boro narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League in the 2025-26 campaign after losing 1-0 to Hull City in the Championship play-off final but Sarmiento said they are ready to challenge again. "We all wanted it, I think the fans wanted it as well. We worked so hard to push for that promotion," he said. "Only god knows why we didn't. But we have that belief, we're working so hard to get there again and this time hopefully do it." Sarmiento has won promotion from the second tier twice before, with Ipswich Town in 2023-24 and Burnley in 2024-25, and hopes that experience will help Boro succeed in the forthcoming season. "Really it could have been third [last season], but hey, it is what it is. At the end of the day, it's the mentality," he added. "I can help some players out, the young guys who are also coming in. But I'm sure there's a lot of players with a lot of confidence that can contribute."