Birmingham City dodged a bullet after £6m Middlesbrough agreement

Between 1998 and 2009, Middlesbrough spent eleven consecutive seasons in the Premier League, enjoying some truly memorable times in the top-flight of English football.

After becoming a feature in the Premier League, Boro had significant pulling power, and were able to sign quality players, and it looked as if they’d made another excellent signing in the summer of 2007 when they announced they had managed to secure a deal to bring Egyptian striker Mido to the club from Spurs.

The striker had played for the likes of Marseille and Roma prior to joining Spurs in 2005, and his £6million signing looked like an excellent piece of business from Boro boss Gareth Southgate.

Boro certainly weren’t alone in their interest in signing Mido, with Premier League rivals Birmingham City and Sunderland both keen on the Egyptian striker.

Sunderland boss Roy Keane met with Mido, infamously taking him to Pizza Express to discuss a move, while a move to St Andrew’s fell through after being unable to agree personal terms.

However, it’s fair to say that failing to sign the Egyptian proved a blessing in disguise for both the Black Cats and the Blues.

Birmingham and Sunderland dodged a bullet with Mido’s Middlesbrough move

Expectations were high at the Riverside Stadium after Mido completed his £6million deal, but his time in the North East proved to be a waste of money, despite a bright start.

He scored on his debut in a 2-1 away win to Fulham, before making it two goals in two games with a goal against Newcastle United the following week.

However, that was as good as it got for the Egyptian during the 2007-08 season, with a hip injury and a hernia problem meaning he played just 17 games in all competitions, and failed to add to his tally from the opening two games of the season.

The hope was that Mido’s injury woes were behind him and he’d find form during the 2008/09 season, and it looked as if he might do that after scoring two goals in the first two games of the season, just as he’d done the previous year, and he soon made it three from four, but that was as good as it got.

Injuries meant that Mido would score just once more for Boro, before he was allowed to leave on loan to join Premier League rivals Wigan Athletic in January 2009.

He scored just twice for the Latics, and Boro were relegated in his absence, but his career at the Riverside Stadium was all but done at that point, with Mido spending the 2009/10 season on loan at Zamalek in Egypt, before joining West Ham.

He left the North East in the summer of 2010, re-joining Ajax on a free transfer, bringing down the curtain on a pretty disastrous spell with Boro.

In total, he made just 32 appearances, scoring seven goals and registering two assists. A poor return, and one that left Sunderland and Birmingham relieved that they missed out on him.

Mido’s career came to a sad end after leaving Middlesbrough

For a player who played for the likes of Roma, Marseille, Ajax and Spurs, it’s fair to say that Mido’s career fizzled out badly after leaving Boro.

He played just six times for Ajax during the first half of the 2010/11 season, although he did manage to find the back of the net on three occasions, before he returned to Egypt for his third spell with Zamalek in January 2011.

However, an admin error meant that he wasn’t registered in time to play, and had to sit out the remainder of the 2010/11 season.

When he could play during the 2011/12 campaign, he played just three times, scoring twice, and left the club at the end of the season, sealing a surprise move back to England.

Mido joined Championship outfit Barnsley for the 2012/13 season, but he played just once, featuring off the bench for 27 minutes against Huddersfield Town, before having his contract terminated in January 2013, and announcing his retirement that summer.

It marked a sad end to a career that went downhill after moving from Spurs to Boro in 2007, and in hindsight it was a really poor bit of business from the club.