da heads bet： Middlesbrough’s recent history has been patchy. The Teesside club are, traditionally speaking, one of English football’s bigger sides, with the loyal Boro fans having backed their side through some real highs and, of late, irritating lows.
da bet7： The North East giants returned to the top table of English football for the current season after narrowly beating Brighton to the final automatic promotion spot last term, and have made a solid, if unspectacular start to the campaign under Aitor Karanka. The Spaniard has been backed heavily by the club’s owners in terms of recruitment in recent times, which has led to some big money captures at the Riverside Stadium, which got us at FFC Towers thinking: who are Boro’s biggest ever additions?
Well, we went over to our friends at Transfermarkt to check the records, and it seems that Middlesbrough have an eclectic mix of big buys to their name through the last 20 or so years.
Coming in at a combined sum of almost £100m, here are Boro’s 10 most expensive signings ever…
10 – Robert Huth (£7.57m)
Now a Premier League champion (a fact that will be worth remembering for future pub quizzes) Huth was a big money buy for Middlesbrough back in 2006. At the time, ‘the Berlin Wall’ was a highly-rated centre-back and Boro’s ability to prise him from Chelsea – aided by their Roman Abramovich rise and flurry of signings – was a real coup. Huth went on to make in excess of 50 appearances for the Teessiders before joining Stoke in 2009 after being unable to help his side avoid relegation.
9 – Jonathan Woodgate (£8.16m)
After a less than successful spell in Spain with Real Madrid, Woodgate returned to England with Boro, initially on loan, in a deal worth £8.16m. The classy centre-back, known for his injury issues, somewhat rebuilt his reputation at the Riverside, and won himself a big move to Spurs in 2008, avoiding Boro’s decline.
8 – Yakubu (£8.29m)
Once a goal-machine in the Premier League, Yakubu averaged a goal every three games in league action for Boro following his 2005 move from Portsmouth. The Nigerian justified the fee the Teesside club paid for him and they made a profit of around £3m when Everton came calling in 2007.
7 – Gareth Southgate (£8.29m)
Boro were big spenders through the late 1990s and early 2000s, and the £8.29m they paid for Southgate shows their ambition at the time. The English centre-back went on to make himself a hero at the Riverside and eventually managed the club between 2006 and 2009.
6 – Fabrizio Ravanelli (£8.31m)
An import from Italy in 1996, Ravanelli joining Boro was a real statement. The striker had starred for Juventus prior to the move and was highly-rated in Serie A, but he lasted just one full season in England. However, before he moved off to the sunnier climes of Marseille, he showed his promise with 17 goals in 35 league games.
5 – Jordan Rhodes (£10.21m)
Bringing us right back up to the modern day is Scotland international Rhodes. The striker had built a reputation as a Football league goal-machine following spells with Huddersfield and Blackburn, and even though he had not tasted Premier League football he still commanded a fee of £10.21m. Rhodes remains at Boro, but has made just one top tier start this season.
4 – Ugo Ehiogu (£10.37m)
A cult figure among ‘90s/‘00s football fans, Ehiogu cost a bafflingly large amount when Boro prised him from Aston Villa in 2000. The four-cap England international represented the red-clad side for seven years, and put in a few good shifts for them before moving to Rangers.
3 – Massimo Maccarone (£10.52m)
Amazingly Maccarone is still playing at the top level at the ripe old age of 37 with Empoli in his native Italy. He joined Boro back in 2002 from his now club and arrived to a great fanfare given his exotic playing style and goal-getting record. He’s still loved by Boro fans to this day.
2 – Marten de Roon (£12.75m)
Snapped up from Atalanta over the summer, midfielder De Roon has made seven league outings for Boro so far, and is expected to push on as the season progresses. The Dutchman cost a massive £12.25m, which is a gamble for a team that will be, in all likelihood, fighting against relegation this term.
1 – Alfonso Alves (14.45m)
Top of the pile is the much-maligned Alves. Signed as one of the most promising forwards in European football on the back of his 45 goals in 37 league games haul with Heerenveen, much was expected of the Brazilian. However, he looked woefully off the pace in the North East, with his highlight at the Riverside being two goals against Manchester United in a 2-2 draw. To this day Alves is held up as the poster boy for the risks that come with signing players from the Netherlands’ Eredivisie.