Barcelona signing Martin Braithwaite struggled at Boro, but now has a £250M release clause and is team-mates with Messi
WHEN Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele were ruled out for months with injury, no one could've foreseen who Barcelona would turn to in their time of crisis.
Today, the Catalans splashed £15million on an emergency signing, sanctioned by LaLiga, in the shape of Middlesbrough reject Martin Braithwaite.
The Denmark striker has hardly pulled up trees in his career - and was snapped up from lowly Leganes, who are second bottom of the Spanish top flight.
Braithwaite, now 28, has had quite the journey to the Camp Nou.
SunSport reflects on the Dane's route that began in his home country, and now sees him on the same playing field as team-mate Lionel Messi with a £250m release clause in his contract.
TWO SEASONS, NO GOALS
Braithwaite started off at Esbjerg fB, and was a slow-starter in Denmark's Superliga.
In fact, between 2009-2011 he failed to find the net in 26 games, although the majority of those appearances were as a sub.
When Esbjerg fB got relegated, he found his feet in the Danish second division - scoring five times in 26 games, and helping them come straight back up.
He earned trials at Newcastle United and Italian side Reggina, but both sides weren't interested in offering him a contract.
However, at Esbjerg he became the main target man - and finished 2012-13 with nine goals in 33 games, and then three in four the following season - which saw Braithwaite get called up to the national team.
And then came a move to France, where he enjoyed his most profitable years.
NOTHING TOULOUSE
In 2013, Toulouse spent a fee believed to be around £1.5m on the 5ft11in forward.
That was money well spent.
He was fairly prolific in France for an un-fancied side, scoring 40 times in 149 games.
Both 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons brought double-figures in the league, which meant a big-money move to England was in the offing.
It was in the Championship where he would try to cut his teeth.
BORO'D TIME
Garry Monk made Braithwaite his third signing, after Jonny Howson and Cyrus Christie, in 2017 in a deal reportedly worth £9MILLION.
His first game was a 1-0 loss to Wolves, and he struggled in front of goal.
Four months into the season, his manager Monk was fired and Tony Pulis was brought in to steady the ship.
Braithwaite didn't see eye-to-eye with his new boss, slamming his brand of football.
He was first loaned out to Bordeaux, before he then found himself at Leganes in 2018, again on loan.
LEAVING TEESSIDE BEHIND
There was no way he was coming back to Teesside, and he made his feelings clear in a frank interview, angering Pulis.
"I'm not coming back to Middlesbrough, I can't imagine that," Braithwaite told Danish newspaper .
"The project I was presented with at Middlesbrough changed completely when Pulis arrived. He has a strange way to play football. The team plays defensively with long balls. It's really kick and rush. It doesn't look so good to me.
"It's the reason I didn't play much at Middlesbrough but I never complained. I worked hard and tried to maintain the good mood every day in the (training) workout.
"No matter how negative things look, it's about working hard and being positive, because suddenly you get a second chance, an option where things can change quickly.
"That chance I got with Leganes, where I've thrived, but I also know that something new is probably waiting in the summer."
SPAIN RELIEF
From the moment Braithwaite arrived in LaLiga it appeared that he belonged.
In his first two games, against Barcelona and Real Madrid, he found the net and showed he could be a big game player.
His five goals in 21 games helped Leganes stay in Spain's top league, and they paid £4.5m for his services.
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This season he picked up where he left off - and has eight goals in 20 games for a team that's destined to be relegated.
We may not have seen the best of Braithwaite in England, but in Spain Barcelona bosses clearly feel he's the man to and Dembele.
But you'd be hard-pushed to find a Boro fan agreeing with them.
