MIDDLESBROUGH have completed the £9m capture of Danish striker Martin Braithwaite – and are hoping to wrap up a £23m double deal by forcing through the signing of Nottingham Forest forward Britt Assombalonga.

Braithwaite signed a four-year contract yesterday afternoon after Toulouse accepted Boro’s offer for his services, and will head to Portugal later today to link up with Garry Monk’s squad at their training camp in the Algarve.

The 26-year-old will not be involved in tomorrow’s pre-season friendly with Chesterfield, but will train with his new team-mates over the weekend and could feature in next week’s pre-season run-out at Mansfield Town.

Boro officials are hoping Assombalonga will also be on Boro’s books by then, with further discussions with the Forest hierarchy and the striker’s representatives planned for later today.

Assombalonga is due to fly back from Florida with the rest of Forest’s first-team squad this morning, having taken part in a training camp at the IMG Academy, and is keen to resolve his future over the weekend.

Boro have agreed an outline £14m fee with Forest officials, and while the finer details of an agreement are still to be finalised, there is confidence a deal can be brokered reasonably quickly.

Watford and Burnley have also made a number of inquiries about Assombalonga, but at this stage, neither Premier League club has been willing to match Boro’s offer.

Crucially, Boro are also willing to pay the 24-year-old £60,000-a-week, and while Assombalonga had previously expressed a desire to test himself in the top-flight, it is hoped the size of the Teessiders’ contract offer will help persuade him to shun interest from the Premier League in order to move to the Riverside.

Assombalonga has always been Monk’s number one attacking target from the moment his appointment was confirmed, with the striker having scored 30 goals in 47 games for Forest, even though his time at the City Ground was hampered by a serious knee injury.

Forest have effectively admitted defeat in their attempts to hold on to the DR Congo-born forward, who started his career as a trainee with Watford before going to on to spend time at Peterborough United.

He joined Forest for an initial fee of £5m in 2014, although his transfer deal contained a number of clauses that are understood to have seen around £8m eventually change hands.

If Boro complete his capture in the next few days, they will take their summer spending to £30m, with yesterday’s deal for Braithwaite having followed earlier agreements for Jonny Howson and Cyrus Christie.

That represents a significant statement of intent from chairman Steve Gibson, who has lived up to his post-season promise to do all he could to support Boro’s attempts to regain their Premier League status at the first time of asking.

Braithwaite is a proven performer, capable of playing as a central striker or winger, who had trials with Newcastle United as a youngster and was the subject of interest from West Ham and Brighton earlier this summer.

Born in Denmark to a father who hails from Guyana, he started his career with his hometown club, Esbjerg fB, and won the Danish league and cup before moving to France to join Toulouse in 2013.

He scored 40 goals in his four seasons in Ligue 1, and notched 12 goals in 37 appearances last season as Toulouse finished in 13th position.

Boasting 16 senior caps for Denmark, he has become Boro’s third most expensive signing of all-time, behind Afonso Alves and Marten de Roon.

“I’m really excited to be here, and I can’t wait to get started,” said Braithwaite. “I’m proud of what I have done so far, but I needed something new.

“I feel what is going on at Middlesbrough is really exciting, with the project that they have. I see myself in it, and I want to get to the Premier League this year.”

The Dane turned down approaches from the top-flight to move to Middlesbrough, but feels confident it will not be too long before his new employers are back in the Premier League.

“There have been some people from the best league around the world (who were interested in him), he said. “But for me, the main thing is the project here. I met the people from the chairman to the coach, and everyone really wanted me.

“They showed me the project for the future, and I feel it’s a great club with lots of possibilities. It’s only been ten years since they went to the Europa Cup final, so I feel there’s lot of good things to do for the future and I really believe in it. Everyone should believe in it.

“The fans should have a lot of expectations, and it’s up to us to live up to it. It’s a great club and a big club, and we want to get back and show that we deserve to get back up.”