Middlesbrough have completed the deal to take Derby pair Malcolm Christie and Chris Riggott to the Riverside Stadium.

The deal is worth �3 immediately, with Christie signing for Boro straight away and Riggott joining initially on loan with a guaranteed permanent transfer by April.

The combined fee could then rise to �5m.

We're looking at two players who are keen to improve and are very much about the club's future as well as the now Steve McClaren Middlesbrough boss

Boro chairman Steve Gibson has refused to fund further spending this season and the fee for Christie and Riggott will form part of next season's transfer budget.

They completed the move just hours before the close of the transfer window on Friday.

However, the need to have the pair on board by midday on Friday to be eligible for Saturday's match with Newcastle dissolved when the game was postponed.

Middlesbrough have also signed Bolton striker Michael Ricketts in a permanent deal and Celta Vigo's Brazilian midfielder Doriva on loan until the end of the season.

Christie, 23, and Riggott, 22, are England Under-21 internationals and had been the target of transfer speculation since Derby were relegated at the end of last season.

Striker Christie joined Derby from Nuneaton Borough in 1998 for �50,000 and the non-league club will receive 20% of the fee as a result of a sell-on clause.

Derby finance director Andrew Mackenzie said: "These values are disappointing compared to the kind of figures we could have expected six months ago.

"But if you look at other transactions that have taken place during the transfer window this does stand up to the toughest scrutiny."