Middlesbrough have completed the signing of Aston Villa striker Rudy Gestede for a fee reported to be in the region of £6 million.
Gestede, 28, has signed a deal which will keep him at the Riverside Stadium until June 2020 after agreeing personal terms on Tuesday.
Benin international Gestede made 19 appearances for Villa this season, scoring four goals, but had fallen out of favour with new boss Steve Bruce.
CONFIRMED | #Boro have completed the signing of @RudyGestede from @AVFCOfficial! ��✍
Full story - https://t.co/CuolrEvkBM #UTB pic.twitter.com/1UhKbOLmDG- Middlesbrough FC (@Boro) January 4, 2017
The signing casts further doubt on the future of Boro strikers Jordan Rhodes and David Nugent, with Fulham reportedly interested in signing the latter.
Middlesbrough confirmed the signing on their website, stating: "Boro have completed the signing of Rudy Gestede from Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee."
The deal is the laltest piece of transfer business by Boro boss Aitor Karanka in the new transfer window, with third-choice goalkeeper Tomas Mejias set to join Rayo Vallecano on loan.