PLAYER PROFILE

Emanuel Pogatetz

Position: Defence

Height: 6'4

Weight: 12st 0lbs

Date of Birth: 1983-01-16 Steinbock, Austria

Emanuel Pogatetz

Middlesbrough signed Austrian international full-back Emanuel Pogatetz on 28th June 2005, with the player officially beginning a five-year deal at the Riverside from July 1st and joining his new team-mates for pre-season training on July 18th.

Steve McClaren was delighted with the £1.8million signing of the Bayer Leverkusen defender, who can also play centre-back, telling Boro's official website: "Emanuel has impressive international and European experience for a lad of his age. But he is only 22 and can go on improving, so we are looking to the future.

"We are trying to create competition for places throughout the team, which is something we lacked last season. We want to avoid getting into the situation we had last season when we wanted to rest senior players but didn't have cover for injuries. The fact that Emanuel can play either as a full-back or in the centre of defence is a big bonus."

Signed by Leverkusen from Austrian club FC Karnten in 2001, Pogatetz spent a large part of his four years at the German club on loan, first to Swiss club FC Aarau, then with AK Graz for whom he played against Middlesbrough in the UEFA Cup, catching McClaren's eye with two excellent performances.

The Austrian was then loaned out to Russian club Spartak Moscow, who were believed to be keen to sign him on a permanent basis, but Pogatetz admitted a move to England was all he wanted.

"A dream is coming true. I have wanted to play in the Premier League since I was a young boy," he told the club's website. "Middlesbrough was always the club I wanted to join, having played against them in the Uefa Cup, I was very impressed with Middlesbrough's stadium and the fans."

Pogatetz became an instant hit with fans and players alike, quickly becoming nicknamed 'Mad Dog' for his incredible enthusiasm and commitment, which also landed him in the odd bit of disciplinary hot water. Playing with his heart on his sleeve didn't endear him to opponents or officials and Mad Dog managed to pick up a dozen yellow cards before his season was cruelly ended by a serious facial injury, following an accidental clash with Basel's Mladen Petric in the UEFA Cup.

After a long lay-off Pogatetz returned to action and he is now one of the most important members of the Middlesbrough squad.