Boro striker Alves moves to Qatar

Alves has agreed a three-year deal with Al Sadd

Qatar side Al Sadd have confirmed the signing of Middlesbrough's Brazilian striker Afonso Alves.

Alves, 28, was pictured on Al Sadd's website on Friday wearing a club shirt and scarf, but Boro insisted the deal had not yet gone through.

However, Al Sadd say he is now their player having agreed a three-year deal.

Alves, 28, joined Middlesbrough from Dutch side Heerenveen for a club record fee of £12.7m in January 2008, he scored 13 goals in 37 starts.

Speaking about his move, he said: "It's a great honour for me to join a good team like Al Sadd.

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

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Hours of agony went into signing him and the same thing happens when he leaves!

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"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."

The Brazil international made headlines in Europe with a prolific spell at Heerenveen in the Dutch league, scoring 34 goals in his first season, following profitable spells in Sweden with Orgyte and Malmo.

He again continued his rich form for Heerenveen the following season, earning full Brazilian honours and notching seven of his club's nine goals in the 9-0 defeat of Heracles Almelo.

A move to Teesside was brought about in January 2008, and Alves initially impressed, scoring twice against Manchester United in a 2-2 draw and grabbing a hat-trick against Manchester City in an 8-1 rout on the final day of the 2008-09 season.

Alves struggled in his final season on Teesside, scoring just seven goals in 33 appearances and was injured against Newcastle, which forced him to miss the final two games of a season in which the club were relegated from the Premier League.