Brazilian Alves seal Boro switch

[JamesTheYiddo]

Brazilian Alves scored 35 goals for Heerenveen last season
Middlesbrough have broken their club transfer record to sign Brazil striker Afonso Alves from Heerenveen.

BBC Sport understands that the fee agreed with the Dutch side was in excess of £10m, beating the £8m paid for Italian Massimo Maccarone.

Alves, 27, who has signed a four-and-a-half year deal, secured a work permit earlier on deadline day.

"As usual at this time of the year it was a late night," Boro boss Gareth Southgate told the club website.

Alves began his career in Brazil with Atletico Miniero before moving to Sweden where he joined Orgryte in 2002.

He helped Malmo win the Swedish league title in 2004 and then headed to Heerenveen, scoring 45 goals in 38 appearances.

"His goalscoring record in Holland in particular but in Sweden too has been prolific. We hope he will reproduce that sort of form for us in the Premier League," added Southgate.

Alves made his international debut against England in June last year.

 

[Kendall]

I think he's going to flop, I cite Samaras & Kuyt's record in the Dutch league

 

[deselina]

alves will be a huge hit in the premiership and will be at a bigger club after the few months with boro.

clubs will bid double the amount of what boro has been paying for him and they will be reluctant to sell but alves will force a break.

 

[Michey]

alves will be a huge hit in the premiership and will be at a bigger club after the few months with boro.

clubs will bid double the amount of what boro has been paying for him and they will be reluctant to sell but alves will force a break.

 

[SpurSince57]

:shrug:

Maybe, maybe not. I've seen him several times and he's certainly looked the business, especially the game when he cracked in seven. But that was against Heracles, who make Derby look like Barca.

Only RvN, Hasselbaink and (for half a season) Mido have reproduced their Eredivisie goalscoring form in the EPL. Oh, and van Pervie, I suppose. Sort of. Ish. Even Bergkamp, class act though he was, scored very few for the Scum.

 

[Bob18]

:shrug:

Maybe, maybe not. I've seen him several times and he's certainly looked the business, especially the game when he cracked in seven. But that was against Heracles, who make Derby look like Barca.

Only RvN, Hasselbaink and (for half a season) Mido have reproduced their Eredivisie goalscoring form in the EPL. Oh, and van Pervie, I suppose. Sort of. Ish. Even Bergkamp, class act though he was, scored very few for the Scum.

Hasselbaink actually never scored in the Eredivisie.

Last years the Eredivisie produced good players like vd Vaart, Sneijder, Zlatan, Chivu, Maxwell, van Nistelrooy and Robben

Some players just left too soon like Drenthe, Maduro and Samaras. Babel and Kalou maybe, although Babel aready scored more goals for Liverpool than he did for Ajax last season.

Kezman was a player who always scored the easy goals. Not a great football player, but a good 'killer' in Holland.

New great talents in the Eredivisie are Affelay (PSV), Suarez (Ajax), Vermaelen (Ajax), Bruins (Feyenoord), De Guzman (Feyenoord), El Ahmadi (FC Twente), Sulejmani (SC Heerenveen), Bradley (SC Heerenveen). All these players would be great signings for the Spurs.

 

[SpurSince57]

Did he not? That was just an assumption on my part.

Yes, there are and have been a host of quality Dutch players, or quality players who have come to prominence in the Eredivisie, but my point was that as far as strikers are concerned, there are more that have disappointed or totally bombed in the EPL than have been major successes.

 

[ChRiStOpHe]

Did he not? That was just an assumption on my part.

Yes, there are and have been a host of quality Dutch players, or quality players who have come to prominence in the Eredivisie, but my point was that as far as strikers are concerned, there are more that have disappointed or totally bombed in the EPL than have been major successes.

Without checking, I think Leeds got him from Boavista in Portugal. I only know that from the ol' Premier League sticker books we used to do as a kid

 

[Bob18]

Did he not? That was just an assumption on my part.

Yes, there are and have been a host of quality Dutch players, or quality players who have come to prominence in the Eredivisie, but my point was that as far as strikers are concerned, there are more that have disappointed or totally bombed in the EPL than have been major successes.

True, although there are a lot of strikers who disappointed in the EPL. Players like Sjevtchenko, Morientes, Cissé and I think some more..Some strikers just don't fit in the English type of game. The next disappointment will be Huntelaar if he goes to the EPL. A great striker, but not for the EPL.

 

[Bill_Oddie]

Hasselbaink actually never scored in the Eredivisie.

Last years the Eredivisie produced good players like vd Vaart, Sneijder, Zlatan, Chivu, Maxwell, van Nistelrooy and Robben

Some players just left too soon like Drenthe, Maduro and Samaras. Babel and Kalou maybe, although Babel aready scored more goals for Liverpool than he did for Ajax last season.

Kezman was a player who always scored the easy goals. Not a great football player, but a good 'killer' in Holland.

New great talents in the Eredivisie are Affelay (PSV), Suarez (Ajax), Vermaelen (Ajax), Bruins (Feyenoord), De Guzman (Feyenoord), El Ahmadi (FC Twente), Sulejmani (SC Heerenveen), Bradley (SC Heerenveen). All these players would be great signings for the Spurs.

Great post that, Bob. Nice one.

But, re-reading that final paragraph, I have to ask: you don't happen to run a website do you? One with a url of www.scoutingmanagement.moo.nl? :wink:

 

[SpurSince57]

Oops.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ma...CBQWIV0?xml=/sport/2008/02/01/ufnalves101.xml

 

[Marty]

If the Dutch Footie Fed are saying that the pre-contract was invalid, then surely there wont be a problem.

 

[SpursManChris]

Hmmm...

Have we possibly missed out on a mint here? Not that he would be willing to be second choice striker with us. But still, I'm sick of players going to all of these other teams that we should be ahead of and doing wonderfully, like Ashley Young for instance, now we really missed out there.

The next disappointment will be Huntelaar if he goes to the EPL. A great striker, but not for the EPL.

Why exactly do you feel he wouldn't be suited to the EPL? I find it funny, all these people judging all these players and then coming to the conclusion that they wouldn't suit the EPL "style". Does our league all of a sudden have one style of striker? One style of midfielder?

 

[Kendall]

I dunno I guess there's just something unconvincing about players' strike rates in Holland compared to when they come over here.

I don't think Alves would've replaced Berbatov or Keane and in bent we already have a proven goalscorer who can score all types of goals but has spent far too much time on the bench, we don't need another.

 

[KeaneIsKeane]

Its unfair to compare Alves to Kuyt. Alves has way more ability, Kuyt just had a motor. Huntelaar has more ability than Kuyt too, though its a different kind of ability than Alves. Not saying either of them would succeed in the EPL, but Kuyt is a bad comparison.