Maccarone to follow Ehiogu out of Riverside

6:01am Wednesday 24th January 2007

MIDDLESBROUGH'S Massimo Maccarone is to become the second £8m signing to leave the Riverside for nothing this week.

Ugo Ehiogu will complete a move to Rangers before the weekend, as Maccarone, the club's record £8.15m purchase from Empoli in the summer of 2002, will fly out to Italy today to finalise a free transfer to Siena.

It will bring to an end four-and-a-half frustrating years on Teesside for a player who arrived in the Premiership with a rising reputation, one which Boro thought they were right to invest heavily in.

However, after failing to come to terms with life in the English league, he has always been on the periphery of things and rarely looked like fulfilling the potential that made him one of the most sought after Under-21s in the European game.

Now 27, Maccarone heads back to Italy with 104 appearances for Boro behind him - only 55 of those were starts.

Despite his lack of goals - he hit just 24 in his time on Teesside - he will be remembered for scoring the exceptional diving header against Steaua Bucharest that clinched Middlesbrough's place in the UEFA cup final last season.

And it is that sort of eye for a goal Siena, from Serie A, are hoping he can deliver between now and the end of the season.

"Massimo will be leaving Middlesbrough and he should sign for Siena on Monday or Tuesday next week," his agent Paolo Fabbri told Northern Echo SPORT last night. "He is really looking forward to playing in Italy again but feels disappointed he has not achieved what he wanted in England.

"Apart from the goal that took Middlesbrough in the final there were very few other occasions like that and that disappoints him. But it was not through a lack of trying.

"Provided everything goes through and is settled with Middlesbrough then Massimo will be back in Italy playing his football and he wants to return to his best form.

"He will be in the best place to achieve that. Siena may not be regarded as the biggest club in the world but they are a nice club and they are playing in a great league. Massimo wants to score the goals he knows he is capable of."

The deal has already been agreed with Siena and, after arriving in Italy later today, Maccarone will spend the next few days training on his own.

Negotiations between Fabbri and Boro chief executive Keith Lamb have been concluded and an agreement has been reached over the remainder of his lucrative contract, which is believed to be around £30,000 a week and expires in June.

Maccarone has scored just once in seven appearances this season and he was told some time ago he could leave if the right deal materialised.

His transfer means Boro are on the look out for a new striker and there has been talks with Arsenal about Jeremie Aliadiere.

However, a failure to pull the deal off quickly could have been to Gareth Southgate's cost as Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has learnt that Robin van Persie is to be sidelined through injury for at least six weeks after breaking a metatarsal in his foot at the weekend.

Van Persie's enforced absence means that Wenger will be short of strikers and, unless he drafts in another quickly, Aliadiere will be required to stay at the Emirates Stadium.

When Ehiogu - an £8m Bryan Robson signing in October 2000 - completes negotiations over the remainder of his contract at Middlesbrough he will move to Rangers.

That would mean Boro waving goodbye to two men who cost the club a total of £16.15m for absolutely nothing.

Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist, however, feels the experience of Ehiogu will provide the Glasgow giants with new steel.

The 34-year-old still has contractual issues with Boro but hopes those will be sorted out in time for him to make his debut against Hearts in the Scottish Premier League on Saturday.

McCoist said: "I quite enjoyed playing with him in his first training session. He is looking all right. He is keen - keen as mustard.

"I would imagine the big man will come in at some point and be involved at the weekend."

The departures of big earners, Maccarone and Ehiogu, means Southgate will have more room to wheel and deal in the transfer market.

Aliadiere is wanted, while there could also be movement at West Brom if a deal can be agreed to part-exchange goalkeeper Brad Jones and cash for Hungarian winger Zoltan Gera.

If an agreement can be reached for Gera, Middlesbrough's interest in right-sided Greg Halford - whose club Colchester are demanding £4m - will diminish.

Meanwhile, former Hartlepool United assistant manager Steve Agnew is Boro's new reserve coach following Colin Cooper's elevation to first-team duties.

It is Agnew's second spell with the club following a coaching post with the Academy teams six years ago. He joins from Leeds United, where he undertook youth and reserve duties in two stints with the Yorkshire club.

"It's great to be back at Boro, where I first started my coaching career," says 41-year-old Agnew, who lives in Hutton Rudby.

"I'm really looking forward to working with Gareth Southgate and all the lads. Everyone has made me feel at home and I can't wait to get started."

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