Middlesbrough splash out on Alves

Middlesbrough FC have broken their transfer record by paying SC Heerenveen a reported €17.4m for Brazil striker Afonso Alves, who arrives in England on a four-and-a-half year contract.

Protracted move
The English club have been pursuing the forward, who turned 27 yesterday, for most of the month with a dispute between Heerenveen and AZ Alkmaar complicating the move. The matter was finally resolved last week and, having passed a medical earlier this week, Alves was granted a work permit today before the deal eventually went through just before the deadline. The transfer surpasses Middlesbrough's previous highest fee paid, the €10.9m invested in Massimo Maccarone from Empoli FC in 2002.

Scoring exploits
Alves, who won the first of his eight caps for Brazil in a Wembley friendly against England on 1 June 2007, came to Europe in 2002, signing for Swedish side Örgryte IS. Twenty-three goals in only 39 Allsvenskan appearances over the next two seasons earned a move to Malmö FF in 2004, where he scored 29 times in 55 league matches before a switch to Heereveen in summer 2006. His exploits in the Netherlands gained him wider attention as Alves managed 34 Eredivisie goals in just 31 outings in his first season and eleven goals in seven games this term, including seven in a 9-0 win against Heracles Almelo in October.

'He's a finisher'
"Alves is a finisher and wants to get in the box whenever he can, which is what we want," said Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate, whose team have registered only 22 goals in 24 Premier League fixtures this campaign, lying 13th in the table. "We want someone to get in there and score goals. By being willing to break the transfer record, the chairman is showing how much he is prepared to back the club. Alves has scored a huge number of goals in the Netherlands, and was a regular scorer before that in Sweden too, while he has also been included in the Brazil team. The other big thing is that he wants to be here."