When Middlesbrough lost both Mark Viduka and Yakubu in the same transfer window of January 2008, they badly needed to replace those goals, so they turned to a man with a very impressive goalscoring record, and someone who would eventually outgrow the club and move on to bigger things.
Unfortunately for Boro, when it comes to Dutch football, for every Ruud Van Nistelrooy there is a Mateja Kezman, and for every Luis Suarez there is an Afonso Alves.
Having started his career at local Brazilian side Atletico Mineiro but ultimately failing to make the grade, Afonso Alves tried his hand set sail for Europe. His first landing spot was at Swedish Allsvenskan side Orgryte, and the Brazilian enjoyed a good first season as he helped his side to third place in the league chipping in with a few important goals. He was attracting attention from a number of clubs around Europe, but was first tasked with making the step up to Malmo, a side higher in the food chain over in Sweden.
He managed without a bother, and scored an impressive 30 goals in 55 games over two seasons, but eventually was signed by Heerenveen to play in the Eredivisie when it was clear that he was destined for bigger things.
In Holland, Alves became a well-known name in European football and a complete beast in Football Manager. In his first season in at Heerenveen football he scored a truly stunning 34 goals in 31 league games, becoming the third Brazilian striker to top score in the Eredivisie, after Romario and Ronaldo. Not Bad.
His second season started with more of the same, as the enigmatic hit-man bagged seven (yes 7) goals in a 9-0 victory in his second appearance of the season, but his campaign was soon derailed due to injury. It was said that clubs such as Real Madrid and Inter Milan were monitoring Afonso's situation, as the hype began to grow, but by January it became apparent that a move to the Premier League was on the cards with Middlesbrough and Manchester City (these were the Benjani and Mpenza days, remember) in the hunt for Heerenveen's prized asset.
And so it happened. Football Manager addicts and football hipsters alike gasped as they saw the name Afonso Alves on the back of a jersey being held up outside the Riverside Stadium. A €20m deal.
Unfortunately, Gareth Southgate did not receive goods as described. Despite the occasional flash of skill or a powerful finish, Afonso Ales desperately struggled to adapt to the Premier League and he was not what Boro needed at all.
His first goals in England came as he bagged a brace in a 2-2 FA Cup draw with Manchester United, which many thought would see Alves kick on, but instead, that was it aside from a hat-trick in a bizarre and meaningless final day match against Man City which finished 8-1 to Boro.
Many expected Afonso Alvez to shake off the first-season woes and light the league up in his second season, with the Boro fans even erecting a banner that read 'BORO GOAL MACHINE' with a picture of Alves at the Riverside, and they looked to be right as he scored a screamer of a free-kick against Stoke in August...
...And then followed it up with 3 more goals in September. But that was it. Four league goals for the season and Middlesbrough were relegated.
After England, Afonso Alves set off to Qatar, where he played out his career at Al Saad, Al Rayyan, and Al Ghafara, before retiring in 2013.
Alves made eight appearances for Brazil, and donned the iconic #9 shirt, but will always be remembered around these parts as a bit of a chancer, and someone who was far better represented in video games than he was in Sky Sports' Premier League Years.
