Gareth Southgate made his first summer signing when he sealed a move for Colchester winger Mark Yeates on Friday.
The 24-year-old has put pen to paper on a three-year deal after agreeing personal terms and passing a medical, and is now setting his sights on winning promotion to the Barclays Premier League.
Yeates said: "This is massive for me. There was interest from other clubs, but there was only one thing on my mind once my agent told me Middlesbrough had been in touch."
He added: "This club belongs in the Premier League, the fans deserve to be there and I can't wait to play in front of them.
"It's a Premier club in my mind - all you have to do is look around the facilities, the training ground, the stadium, everything is spot-on."
Yeates will link up with his new team-mates when they return for pre-season training next week and begin preparations for what they hope will be a short stay in the Coca-Cola Championship.
He told the club's official website: "The gaffer made it very clear how much he wanted me and that was a great feeling.
"He seems absolutely spot-on. He is 110% clear about what he expects of people. He told me that he only wants players who have a hunger. He has certainly has that in me.
"I want to hit the ground running when the new season starts.
"It would me fantastic for me to get back into the Premier League and that's what the gaffer wants to do, that will be the aim this season."
Comment 1 - 4 of 4
I have heard good reports about the lad, he has the motivation to try to break into the Republic of Ireland side and has scored plenty for Colchester. Lets see if he can link up with the players we have.
footyfan4eva
Apparently the boy is good; it all depends where Southgate plays him - he is renowned for playing players out of position isn't he? Anyway, at least you are signing players and getting ready for next season; we're just doing nowt!
Ross Turnbull proved himself at the start of last season and after one bad game southgate replaces him with brad jones, i really do not understand this and are sure this highly contributed to borough`s relegation, southgate is fast becoming a joke letting schwarzer go last season who had already proved himself to be one of the top goalkeepers in the premier league and now by coming very close to losing another, anyway good luck to Ross Turnbull in wherever his future lies and i hope that southgate comes to his senses very quickly.
he better be good coz knowin southgate he will be @#$% an fail to score any goals next season good luck yeates
Please login to post a comment
Not already a Yahoo! user ? Sign up to get a free Yahoo! Account