By Bryn Palmer

Middlesbrough fans returning from their summer holidays this weekend could be forgiven for thinking they had spent too long in the sun.

Michael Reiziger? Mark Viduka? Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink? At the Riverside? Surely some mistake?

But no, a second look reveals that really is Boro chief executive Keith Lamb on their TV screens proclaiming his club are "already competing" with the biggest in the land.

Such talk may work wonders on any supporters still pondering whether to renew their season tickets for the forthcoming campaign.

VIDUKA'S SCORING RECORD Leeds: 72 goals in 169 games Celtic: 35 in 48 Dynamo Zagreb: 40 in 84

Three signings of proven quality in four days of frenzied transfer activity have suddenly transformed Boro from perennial mid-table bankers to European top six candidates.

It is an impressive statement of intent for a club which has signed some exotic names in the recent past, only for the stardust to quickly disappear.

Boro have been the prototype mid-table Premiership side, bursting with perspiration but short on inspiration and goalscoring menace.

A strong defensive unit, marshalled by Gareth Southgate, generally concedes little, but a lack of cutting edge up front has precluded any serious top-six aspirations.

Last season was typical. Boro kept 14 cleans sheets in the Premiership, but also failed to score in 14 games.

Since Hamilton Ricard's 15 goals helped the club to their best Premiership finish of ninth on their return to the top flight in 1998-99, no Boro striker has managed more than a dozen.

For the past three seasons, no player has even reached double figures.

Their final league position over the past five years - 12th, 14th, 12th, 11th, 11th - bears out that lack of a genuine goalscorer.

Hasselbaink signs for Boro

But that could be about to change.

Viduka and Hasselbaink are hardly in their first flush of youth, but both are proven Premiership marksman.

Viduka scored 59 goals in 126 Premiership starts for Leeds, a side struggling at the wrong end of the table for the past two seasons.

Hasselbaink's record is even better, having notched 77 goals in 147 Premiership starts in his two seasons at Leeds and four at Chelsea.

As a beaming Boro coach Steve Harrison put it: "Jimmy is a one-in-two goalscorer, and so is Mark Viduka. You can't get better than that."

HASSELBAINK'S RECORD Chelsea: 87 goals in 177 apps Atletico Madrid: 32 in 41 Leeds: 43 in 84 Boavista: 20 in 29

Well, not unless you get Thierry Henry or Ruud van Nistelrooy, but Boro are not quite in that league just yet.

The goal now though must be to at least propel themselves into the chasing pack behind Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea.

If it is hard to look beyond those three again for the title this coming season, Boro are assembling a squad capable of challenging for a Champions League spot.

They are already in Europe of course, courtesy of a first major trophy in the Riverside cabinet - the Carling Cup.

That alone explains why Boro have been so busy in the transfer market this week, given the new demands of combining the Uefa Cup with the Premiership.

Boro chief executive Keith Lamb insists "there will be more signings" over the next few weeks, adding to the frenzy of excitment that has descended on Teesside.

As important as new arrivals perhaps, will be securing Dutch winger Boudewijn Zenden and Spanish midfielder Gazika Mendieta on permanent deals.

Both made positive and incisive contributions last season, and will be crucial elements in supplying the ammunition for Viduka and Hassselbaink to shine.

The only reservation is whether the strike pair can form a successful partnership given their distinctive personalities.

Both are prone to sulking if they don't get their own way, and neither is rarely described as a selfless worker in the Alan Smith mould.

But goals are the currency by which strikers are ultimately measured.

And if Viduka and Hasselbaink maintain their scoring instincts, Middlesbrough may reap a rich dividend.