Alves deal delights Southgate

Boro boss welcomes record signing

By Rob Parrish   Last updated: 1st February 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Alves deal delights Southgate

Alves: Exciting signing

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Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate believes the signing of Afonso Alves demonstrates the ambition of the club.

Boro set a new transfer record to land the Brazilian striker from Heerenveen, and while the fee has not been disclosed, it is thought to be in the region of £12million.

Southgate saluted the backing he has received from chairman Steve Gibson and chief executive Keith Lamb which enabled him to seal the Alves deal.

Plan

He told Sky Sports News: "I think it's very satisfying when so much effort has been put in, and I've got to say the chairman and Keith Lamb have been fantastic.

"I've heard people question the ambition of this club over the last year, and I know we've done deals going out to help finance things, but I've had terrific backing from them in the transfer market.

"The ambition is still there. We've got a plan. It takes time to build a club up, but that's what we're trying to do.

"This signing will be a real boost and give great momentum to our season. I think it will excite the fans. He's a player with a fantastic pedigree and people are really looking forward to seeing him play."

Debut delay

While Alves has already been granted a work permit he is still to receive a visa, which is expected to prevent him from making his debut for the club in Sunday's Tyne-Tees derby with Newcastle.

Southgate added: "That's the one stumbling block, and there's no way of speeding that process up. He has to get in the queue with everybody else.

"It's very unlikely that we'll have him for the weekend, but we would hope that he'll be here Monday or Tuesday next week."

And Southgate has moved quickly to reassure Boro fans that Alves will not be sidelined by a threatened legal challenge from AZ Alkmaar.

He said: "Well, that can't happen. The only thing that can happen is there could be compensation between Heerenveen and Alkmaar.

"The player has got international clearance and is registered to the Premier League so there's no way that can happen."