Club's vision and flying start sold Boro to Strelec

DAVID Strelec admits Middlesbrough’s excellent start to the season was one of the big influences behind his big-money deadline day move to the club.

- By CRAIG JOHNS

Rob Edwards’ side have enjoyed an excellent start to the new campaign and sit top of the Championship after four wins from four.

To add to their positive start, they've now added Strelec, in a £6.5m deal which feels like a real statement of intent.

A long-term target of the club's, they first made their move for the 24-year-old back in January. While a move didn’t transpire at that stage, Boro’s interest remained and, after waiting patiently for Slovan Bratislava's European qualification campaign to reach its conclusion, they pounced late to seal the deal with the Slovak champions.

For Strelec, Boro were one of a number of options, with the general director admitting after that they'd received several offers this summer.