Kyle Joseph's on-off move from Hull City to Middlesbrough has been completed.
The Tigers had been in a hurry to sell the forward before the end of June to wipe out a £6m overspend in time to avoid breaking Football League rules.
But with Middlesbrough's sale of Hayden Hackney to Everton not going through until later that week, the deal was put on hold and Hull instead sold Ivor Pandur, Akin Famewo and academy player Aidon Shehu to clear the problem.
With Joseph recovering from the ankle surgery which stopped him facing Boro in the Championship play-off final Hull won, it had been thought the deal would not be revisited until much later in the window.
MOVING ON: Kyle Joseph has left Hull City for Middlesbrough (Image: Tony King/Getty Images)placeholder image
MOVING ON: Kyle Joseph has left Hull City for Middlesbrough (Image: Tony King/Getty Images)
But now the deal has been done. Although the fee is undisclosed, it is understood to be £5m – twice what the Tigers paid Blackpool for him three transfer windows ago.
As well as deputising for talismanic centre-forward Oli McBurnie, the physical Joseph performed well wide on the right for Hull last season, scoring seven goals in the Championship and making five more, despite being a horses-for-courses starter rather than a real regular.
Hull probably recognised they needed an upgrade for the Premier League but Joseph's skills are ideal for Boro in the Championship, giving them a physical edge they need in contrast to the many technical but not especially clinical forward players they have.
Boro have also signed Myles Peart-Harris, primarily a wide forward who plays on the left, and are expected to use Joseph more at centre-forward as they looked to add bite to a forward line which lacked it last season.