ALBERT ADOMAH is keeping an eye on who else Middlesbrough are trying to sign before the end of the transfer window, but he already thinks Diego Maradona has arrived on Teesside.

'Maradona' is the name the Ghanaian has attached to summer recruit Diego Fabbrini after the Italian’s first few weeks at Boro and he was the star of the show in helping to earn a 3-1 victory at OIdham in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday night.

Fabbrini, playing in the Argentinian legend’s famous number ten role, was always a willing mover and popped up in a variety of positions looking to receive a pass. 

The 25-year-old also had the twists and turns to torment the League One side and created Cristhian Stuani’s first goal as well as earning an earlier penalty.

Adomah, smiling, said: “Who? Diego Maradona! He is an unbelievable player. He is so skilful and I was telling him he should wear shin pads in training because he has incredible vision. He is fantastic.

“Maradona is my nickname for him. He is so skilful, if you give him the chance he is so unselfish for the team because he creates chances for us all. At the weekend at Preston he put me through and I should have scored. We are replacing (Lee) Tomlin in a way and he is more skilful.”

Fabbrini was one of the seven players from Udinese who moved to Watford two years ago and is under contract at Vicarage Road until the summer of 2017. He was moved out on loan to Siena and Millwall last season following the arrivals of other new recruits such as Odion Ighalo.

Adomah thinks Middlesbrough have got an ideal signing to boost the push for promotion this season. 

“In training he is busy all over the pitch,” he said. “In pre-season he wanted to do everything. He is a real grafter and that’s what the manager wants. 

“Against Millwall last season I remember the team-talk from the manager being all about Fabbrini. That shows you the calibre of the player he is. He wants to be a boxer, a player, everything, and he can be a real asset for us. 

“We have a skilful player so that attracts the supporters to be entertained, but he is also putting the hard work in and he is not just showboating for the sake of it. Hopefully the likes of Kike and Stuani, or whoever else comes in, will benefit from that.”

With Downing due to return to the starting line-up against Bolton tomorrow, it could be that Karanka fields a new-look forward line at the Riverside. Fabbrini seems certain to be part of a three-pronged supply line to lone striker Stuani which will include Downing and Adomah too.

And with Karanka working on more deals for new signings further up the field, the signs are that Middlesbrough should be more dangerous than they were last season provided the new boys gel.

Leicester’s David Nugent is close to completing a move to Teesside, while there are also talks over a number of Premier League loans. AC Milan goalkeeper Michael Agazzi is also under consideration.

Adomah, who was the stand-in captain at Oldham, said: “As a player it is exciting when the window is open. There are 15 days left and you are always looking to see who is coming and going. We would like to see new signings arrive as soon as possible so we can train together and play together.

“Hopefully we can go further this year. We have scored three and that’s the positive, the aim is to win the game and we go from there.”

And after watching Stuani, a £3.6m buy from Espanyol, shine at Boundary Park and hit a double on his full debut, Adomah thinks they have a forward more than capable of finding the net regularly in the Championship.

“Stuani is a finisher, like we saw at Oldham, there’s no doubt about that,” said Adomah. “All our strikers, like Kike, will score if we give them chances. 

“It was harsh on Kike at Preston because we didn’t give him any chances. It doesn’t matter if a striker is worth £5m, £1m or £200, a striker will finish chances if they get them. Stuani did that on Tuesday.”