Hull City signing George Boateng has revealed how Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson tried to convince him to stay on Teesside.
"The chairman made it very clear that he wanted me to stay for another year and see out my contract," he said. "He said he was very pleased with my performances. So it was very important to me that I made the right decision, and I felt that the right decision at this time was to accept a new challenge.
"There were one or two clubs very interested. I could have gone to Celtic, or Feyenoord, or link up with Steve McClaren again but England has been very good to me over the past 12 years and I did not want to say goodbye.
"Part of me with always remain in Middlesbrough. My two little girls were born there. One was born at North Tees and the other at James Cook.
"In future years they will look at their passports and ask me about the place where they were born and I will be happy to tell them all about Middlesbrough.
"I had several great years at Boro and met many great people. They inspired me to play as well as I could for the club. I am already keeping in touch with my Boro team-mates and my many friends there and I am looking forward to coming back with Hull.
"When I spoke to Phil Brown at Hull it felt right for me. I could see that he was hungry to succeed at Hull City and I liked the way he was going about it."