Afonso Alves is keen to kick off his career in Qatar with a bang. The former Middlesbrough striker joined Qatari club Al Sadd after a less than impressive stint on Riverside and is keen to score many goals with the 11-time champions.

"It's a great honour for me to join a good team like Al Sadd who are one of the best clubs in Asia," said Alves, who will start his career with the 12-time champions later this month, according to PA Sport.

"I have heard a lot about football in Qatar from my compatriot Felipe Jorge, who is playing also with Al Sadd.

"I'm looking to be the top scorer of the Qatari league next season. I'm happy to have two other Brazilians in the team and hopefully we will be a successful trio in the league.

"I want to have great success with Al Sadd just like I did with Heerenveen in Holland in 2007 where I scored a lot of goals and I hope that I can do the same with Al Sadd."