Another Championship club make a great signing/But not City

Winger Stewart Downing is close to completing a return to Middlesbrough after West Ham gave him permission to speak to his hometown club.

The 30-year-old will have a medical examination on Thursday before meeting with chairman Steve Gibson, BBC Tees Sport has learned.

He will then join the Boro squad at their Marbella training camp.

Downing, capped 35 times by England, left the Riverside for Aston Villa in July 2009, before moving to Liverpool.

He has been with West Ham since 2013 and made 37 Premier League appearances for the Hammers in 2014-15, with his early-season performances earning him an England recall in November.

Since making his professional debut for the Teessiders in May 2002, he has made 493 appearances in all competitions, scoring 50 goals.

Middlesbrough were beaten by Norwich City in the Championship play-off final at Wembley in May.

How many years will we have to wait before Gareth Bale comes to his hometown club?

Hugely inconsistent..too lightweight for championship...£5 million for this guy no thank you

Hugely inconsistent..too lightweight for championship...£5 million for this guy no thank you

He was playing brilliantly for West Ham for the first half of the season, it was largely down to him that they were in the Champions League spots. It was when he was removed from his role behind the strikers for Kevin Nolan that he and the team began to fall.

He is far too good for the division, he'll make an already solid Middlesbrough even better. 5mill is a lot of money for him admittedly, but it will be nothing if he helps them get promoted.