Middlesbrough have made their fair share of poor transfer decisions over the years, with several big-money signings going on to flop.
Up until the arrival of Kieran Scott as Head of Football and Michael Carrick as manager, Boro had a pretty sketchy track record on the transfer front.
Over the years there have been a plethora of Middlesbrough transfer flops, with the most notable of these Afonso Alves.
The Teessiders signed Alves for a then club-record fee from Dutch outfit SC Heerenveen in January 2008.
The striker had just scored 45 goals in 39 matches for his previous team and major things were expected when he moved to the Riverside Stadium.
However, Alves failed to produce anywhere near that number of goals at Boro and is widely regarded as their worst-ever signing.
In the years that followed, Middlesbrough continued to struggle to sign new forwards.
Among the attackers who flopped in the North East in the last decade is Martin Braithwaite.
Martin Braithwaite flopped at Middlesbrough
Braithwaite arrived at Middlesbrough in the summer of 2017 and was part of the £50m spending spree the club went on to try and win promotion straight back to the Premier League.
But like the majority of names that signed in that window, the Dane went on to flop at Boro.
The now 33-year-old started 2017/18 brightly but after Garry Monk was sacked and replaced by Tony Pulis, his career in England quickly fell apart.
As per Teesside Live, former Boro boss Pulis labelled Braithwaite as ‘ungrateful’ in 2019.
He said: “The biggest disappointment for me is he’s the highest paid player I’ve ever worked with in the Championship.
“I’ve dealt with players all my life, some can make your hair curl – not mine. But for him to come out and say that, it just puts him up there as such an ungrateful person.”
Braithwaite ended up scoring nine in 40 appearances before he was eventually sold at the end of the 2018/19 season.
How Martin Braithwaite is faring at Gremio
After less than a year at CD Leganes, FC Barcelona snapped the ex-Boro striker up.
He spent 18 months at the Camp Nou before leaving for RCD Espanyol in September 2022.
Braithwaite scored 22 goals in 39 La Liga matches in the previous campaign, winning Espanyol promotion back to the Spanish top flight.
However, the Danish international then activated a release clause in his contract which allowed him to leave for free earlier this summer.
The ageing attacker has now moved to Brazil and enjoyed a prolific start to life with his new club, Gremio.
Braithwaite scored a brace on his debut before adding a third goal two games later. Gremio are next in action on September 15th versus Red Bull Bragantino and the former Middlesbrough man is expected to start.