Middlesbrough striker Afonso Alves will return to full training with his team-mates next week after recovering from a broken foot.
The 28-year-old Brazilian missed the final two games of last season after suffering a fractured metatarsal in the 3-1 derby defeat at Newcastle on May 11.
However, he is expected to be able to start pre-season training with his team-mates when they head back to Rockliffe Park on Monday.
Winger Stewart Downing is also hoping to be able to step up his rehabilitation after a foot injury following a visit to his specialist in London on Tuesday.
A trio of central defenders, all of whom have undergone surgery during the close-season, will work with the club's physios as they attempt to prove their fitness ahead of the big kick-off.
David Wheater is the most advanced after a knee operation and could yet make the opener against Sheffield United on August 7, while Emanuel Pogatetz and Chris Riggott, who has knee and ankle problems respectively, are a little behind him.
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If Boro are as strapped for cash as some would have us believe, they certainly can't be letting a player who cost £12½m leave for nothing to a club who might actually play him in his correct position and where he would probably score a respectable number of goals. I hope he stays and is played in a more old fashioned inside forward type role where he runs on to balls rather than used as a target man or where balls are hit centrally over his head for him to run on to. Both were ineffective and I cannot understand why Southgate persisted with this. He owes Boro big time and he should stay, if only for his self respect to prove himself.
What a releif. The most lightweight striker in the history of Boro will be fit to not score goals in the "even-more-physical-than-the-Premier-League" Championship. Surely the man will die?
If he's staying, Southgate ought to have him beefing up and doing some boxing training. Maybe, just maybe, some extra strength on and off the ball might complement the talent that got him 53 goals in one season in Holland and turn him into the player we all thought he would be. If he can master the physical side of his game, he should do well.
I really hope so, cos I've got an Alves shirt, and every time I wear it I get ridiculous amounts of abuse off my mates!
footyfan4eva
Hiya, i thought this news would thrill you!
NOT!
whats the point i thought alves was goin on a free transfer!!!! please help im confused x
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