STEWART DOWNING has told Middlesbrough supporters to expect some fireworks in the remainder of the transfer window, with Steve Gibson having promised to deliver another “two or three” high-quality additions to aid the club’s promotion push.

Downing agreed to step down to the Championship as he completed a £5m move from West Ham earlier this month, and while the lure of returning to his hometown club was a key factor in his decision, the extent of Gibson and Aitor Karanka’s ambitions for the new campaign was another reason why he rejected approaches from teams in the Premier League.

Christian Stuani will become Boro’s fourth signing of the summer when he completes a €3m move from Spanish side Espanyol in the next few days, but the Uruguayan’s arrival will be eclipsed by an even bigger deal if the Teessiders manage to prise long-term target Jordan Rhodes from Blackburn Rovers.

There has been further contact between the two clubs in the wake of Patrick Bamford’s decision to join Crystal Palace, and while suggestions of a £14m bid are premature, Boro officials are understood to be working on a package that could see an initial payment of £8m accompanied by further potential add-ons over the course of a four or five-year deal.

Boro are also expected to sign at least one more defender before the transfer window closes, and Downing is confident he will be playing for a side that is capable of claiming automatic promotion.

“The fans won’t know who the manager is going to bring in yet, but I can promise you that they’re really good players,” said the 31-year-old. “They’re people who will push us on for a right good promotion push.

“I’m excited, and they should be too. The chairman is having a right good go at this, backing the manager and doing everything he can to get us promoted. Last season, we missed out by just one game, so this season, the target has to be automatic promotion.

“If this was a team in mid-table or fighting relegation, then it wouldn’t be good for me to come back. But this is a Premier League club, and the players were very unlucky not to get promoted last season.

“The manager said, 'If I can keep most of the squad together and add the players I'm looking to get, we're going for automatic promotion, not the play-offs, not anywhere around that, it's got to be automatic promotion’. That's what he's drumming into the players, and I’ve got to believe it can happen.”

Downing rejected offers from a number of Premier League clubs in order to rejoin Middlesbrough, with Sunderland in particular making a series of attempts to persuade him to remain in the top-flight.

However, his mind was made up once he spoke with Steve Gibson, and he would have remained at West Ham had his move to his hometown club fallen through.

“The big pull is that I’m from here,” he said. “I wouldn’t have gone to any other club in the Championship, it wouldn’t have happened. I had offers from the Premier League, but the clubs making those offers probably weren’t as good as West Ham, and I would probably have stayed there if this move hadn’t happened.

“When I spoke to the chairman, and he explained his plans – who he’s going to sign, and what type of players he’s going to get – that basically convinced me to come back. Sunderland were the first club to come in for me and make the offer to West Ham. But once I heard from Boro and spoke to Steve Gibson, that faded away.”