Afonso Alves has paid tribute to the persuasive powers of his new Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate.

"Gareth Southgate was a big influence on my decision to join Middlesbrough," Alves told the club's official website. "When we met we spoke about football, about how we felt the game should be played and the role of the forward as part of the team.

"When I heard the manager talking about his beliefs about the game I just looked at my advisors and smiled. It is very clear we share the same beliefs.

"What he said was music to my ears. He made it clear that he believed in attacking football, playing with the ball on the ground and trying to excite supporters. Most of all he understands what I can do for this team."

Alves is certainly not short of confidence and has predicted an even better goal return in The Premier League than the 97 goals in just 123 games he managed in Sweden and Holland.

"I believe I will score a lot of goals for Middlesbrough," added Alves.

"I am proud to have scored many goals in Sweden and in Holland but I aim to have an even better goals to games average in The Premier League.

"I promise the fans that there will be many goals before the summer. Free-kicks are my specialty but I want to score goals no matter where they are from.

"I am excited about the challenge."