Middlesbrough appoint Swede Hellberg as head coach

Middlesbrough have appointed Kim Hellberg as their new head coach.

The 37-year-old who had been in charge of Swedish side Hammarby, replaces Rob Edwards, who left for Premier League strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this month.

This is a first job for Hellberg outside his native Sweden, although he had been in talks with Championship rivals Swansea City earlier this month.

Hellberg will take over officially later in the week, with Adi Viveash remaining in interim charge for the home game against Championship leaders Coventry City on Tuesday.

Boro remain in second, seven points behind the Sky Blues after only losing two of their 16 league games this season.

Hellberg is Boro's second managerial appointment in five months, with Edwards departing for boyhood club Wolves just 14 games into his tenure at the Riverside.

Having been in charge at Hammarby for the past two seasons, Hellberg led the Stockholm-based club to successive second-placed finishes in Sweden's top-flight Allsvenskan.

Hellberg, who spent his playing career in the Swedish lower leagues, had a year to run on his deal with Hammarby.

He began his coaching career in the Swedish lower divisions with Kuddby IF and later IF Sylvia before joining the staff at top-tier club IFK Norkopping in 2020.

His first head coach role in the Allsvenskan came at IFK Varnamo, where two impressive seasons led to his move to Hammarby.

He will be accompanied to Teesside by his assistant David Selini, with Viveash remaining part of the backroom staff.

While unknown to the vast majority of English audiences, Boro's director of football Kieran Scott had Hellberg's progress at Hammarby on the radar, and he believes the the club have recruited a head coach whose stock is on the rise.

"Kim is someone I've been monitoring for a while," Scott told the club's website., external

"He's well known in the circles of European football as an up-and-coming head coach that was catching a lot of people's eye and was doing really well at Hammarby.

"We met a few candidates, but Kim was high on my list of people I wanted to speak to."