Afonso Alves

Afonso Alves has expressed his delight at finalising his move to Middlesbrough and admits that he cannot wait to get started.

The striker signed an agreement with Boro last Thursday, but only received his visa on Tuesday which enabled him to complete the protracted switch from Dutch side Heerenveen.

With expectations rising by the day at the Riverside that Alves will be the man to fire them to glory, the Brazilian international will now have much to prove if he is handed a Premier League debut against Fulham at the weekend.

He appears ready for the challenge though and is just glad to be able to put the events of the last week firmly behind him.

"I'm very excited to be here. Middlesbrough is a good team," he said.

"I have the option of training this week and hopefully I will be chosen to play on Saturday.

"I haven't set myself a goal target, I just want to achieve something good for the whole team."