Middlesbrough seal Maccarone deal

Italian international Massimo Maccarone has left Empoli FC and signed a five-year deal with English FA Premiership club Middlesbrough FC for a fee of €12.7m.

'We're very pleased'
"We're very pleased to say the least," Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren told the club's official website. "I think negotiations with Empoli [took] longer than expected, but Maccarone is now a Middlesbrough player."

Italy debut
The 22-year old Maccarone made his senior debut for Italy against England in a friendly international at Elland Road in March, becoming the first Italian to play for his country having never made an appearance in Serie A. He also made a big impact for the Italian Under-21 side during the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Switzerland in May, scoring three goals in four matches and being voted into the Team of the Tournament.

'We've done our homework'
"He did well and we've done our homework on him, he has great potential," McClaren added. "He was much sought after in Italy but we’ve beaten everybody to his signature. I think the reason we got him was we went in straight away and showed we were very keen to do the deal."
 
Fine record
Born in Galliate on 6 September 1979, Maccarone started his career in the youth ranks of Milan AC. He moved to Modena Calcio in 1998 but did not make any first-team appearances. The following two seasons he played for Prato Calcio in Serie C scoring 24 goals in 49 matches. After having spent one season at Varese FC with only minor success, he joined Empoli in 2000. Maccarone scored 24 goals in 68 games for Empoli, including ten in the 2001/02 season when they gained promotion from Serie B.

Juninho deal
Middlesbrough also announced today that they have agreed a fee with Club Atlético Madrid to bring Brazilian Juninho back to the club for a third time. "All it needs now it for us to speak to the player and see if we can come to an agreement which would bring him back to Middlesbrough," McClaren said.