MIDDLESBROUGH are hoping to complete a season-long loan deal for Alvaro Negredo in the next 48 hours – and are targeting a transfer double after opening negotiations about the Valencia striker’s team-mate, Antonio Barragan.

The Teessiders have held a number of discussions over Negredo, and a breakthrough finally occurred on Sunday, with the Spain international due to travel to Teesside to undergo a medical shortly.

Valencia had been holding out for a permanent deal, but Boro boss Aitor Karanka had always preferred an initial loan move and Negredo is set to sign for an initial 12-month period.

He has already turned down two opportunities to move to China this summer, and his Boro contract will include a non-binding purchase clause of around €10m that all parties will have to agree to if it is to be activated next summer.

Boro’s preference for a loan move reflects Negredo’s somewhat inconsistent form over the last two season, and his struggles to force his way into Valencia’s first-team ranks last term.

He remains a hugely talented striker, but Karanka was reluctant to commit up to £9-10m to his capture without having had the chance to work with him first.

Valencia eventually agreed to the loan move as it will free up around €7m in terms of wage savings and additional payments to Manchester City that will no longer apply, and that money will fund signings of their own and ensure they comply with Financial Fair Play regulations.

Negredo scored 23 goals in 49 appearances during his previous spell in England with Manchester City, but managed just five La Liga goals for Valencia last season, having returned to Spain in a €27m deal.

Provided there are no complications with the completion of his loan deal, he will compete with Jordan Rhodes and David Nugent for a place in Boro’s starting line-up next season.

He could yet be joined on Teesside by Barragan, a 29-year-old right-back who spent a season with Liverpool at the start of his career.

Barragan joined Liverpool in 2005 as an 18-year-old who was still to make a senior appearance for his former club, Sevilla, but while he made his Reds debut in a Champions League qualifier against CSKA Sofia, he spent just one season at Anfield before returning to Spain to join Deportivo La Coruna.

He joined Valencia in a €1.5m move from Valladolid in 2011, and has made more than 110 league appearances for the club that was briefly managed by Gary Neville last season.

Senior Boro scouts watched him action on a number of occasions last term, and are understood to have delivered a series of positive reports.

Boro have already signed Jordan McGhee this summer, but the youngster is regarded as more of a centre-half than a full-back, as highlighted by his appearance at the heart of the back four in Saturday’s opening pre-season friendly at York. Barragan would therefore compete with Emilio Nsue for the right-back slot if he was to join.

Karanka has clearly been determined to complete as much of his transfer business as possible prior to the start of the new season, but his involvement in the market has not been a surprise to the players who won promotion last term.

The arrival of the likes of Victor Valdes, Marten de Roon and Viktor Fischer could result in a number of last season’s promotion winners being shuffled to the sidelines, but left-back George Friend accepts that is part and parcel of being a footballer.

“The whole group that got promoted are realistic about bringing in new players,” said Friend. “We all realise that we needed to bring in added quality to strengthen the side.

“Don’t get me wrong, we already had a lot of quality. We are a good side, and that’s why we got promoted, but we need to bring in more and get the right characters with the right skills to add to the group.”

Friend watched de Roon and McGhee make their first Middlesbrough appearances at Bootham Crescent, and has been impressed at the ease with which the new signings have integrated themselves into the squad.

“At the moment, it’s all about getting the new signings in and starting to gel,” he said. “The new boys look good. They have fitted in well, and I’m sure that will continue to progress.

“Pre-season will be hard work. The manager likes to get a lot of games in, here and over in Marbella when we go there, and I agree with that. It is the best way to get your fitness.”