Afonso Alves on his way to Qatar

Middlesbrough is about to reduce their salary costs seriously: Afonso Alves is about to join Qatari side Al Sadd.

The Brazilian striker was placed on the transfer list because of his extreme wages of approximately £ 45,000 per week. Besides that, Alves never convinced during his time at the Riverside stadium.

The Brazilian international is still Boro’s record signing: in January 2008 Boro paid his former club Heerenveen £ 17, 5 million.

As a Heerenveen player he proved his talent as a goal getter: 45 in only 40 matches for the Dutch side.

However, he never lived up to the expectations in England, scoring only ten goals in 42 matches.