Boro the next chapter in Viduka saga
Boro will face the Primera Liga side at the Riverside Stadium on Wednesday, August 4, their only home fixture in the run-up to the new campaign.
Steve McClaren's side travel to Germany for a friendly against Hansa Rostock on Saturday July 31, and hope to arrange another away game against foreign opposition for Saturday, August 7, a week before their Premiership opener at home to Newcastle.
Viduka yesterday vowed to put his acrimonious last few months at Leeds behind him as he prepared for life at Middlesbrough.
The 28-year-old Australian international completed his £4.5m move to the Riverside Stadium by signing a three-year deal which includes an option of a fourth.
Viduka was one of the main scapegoats as Leeds slipped out of the top flight with horrendous debt problems. As the likes of Paul Robinson, Alan Smith, James Milner, Dominic Matteo, Nick Barmby and Stephen McPhail headed for the exit door, his reported £65,000-a-week pay packet was a bone of contention.
However, the former Croatia Zagreb and Celtic hitman, who is understood to have waived around half of the £2million he was owed by the cash-strapped club, has insisted he will look back on his Leeds career with great fondness despite the sour end.
"That's the sort of thing that happens when you're involved in a club that's going through that sort of period," he said.
"The thing is for me, I gave my best for the whole four years I've been there - the four years there, I was top goalscorer every year - and those sort of things go out of the window when times are tough.
"But I had a great time at Leeds. I enjoyed my time there and made a lot of friends, and I was proud to be a Leeds player. There's an element of relief there's also an element of disappointment because it was very sad that Leeds went down last year and the way that the club has been over the last couple of years.
"But it's good to turn over a new leaf and start afresh, and I think there's no better club for me to do that than Middlesbrough."
The club believe they have captured a man capable of becoming the first to break the 20-goal-a-season barrier since Fabrizio Ravanelli in 1996-97.
"I've had that all my career," he said. "I've been a striker all my career. When I went to Celtic, it was the same thing; when I went to Leeds, it was the same thing, and now it's Middlesbrough.
"I expect that from myself and I think the pressure that I put on myself is probably greater than any pressure anybody can put on me."
Viduka's signature represents something of a coup for Boro, who had to fight off competition from both Italy and Spain to finally get their hands on a man who came close to joining them during the January transfer window as the player flew back from Australia after visiting his sick father.
"I spoke to Mark's advisors in January and we were very close to doing a deal in January," said CEO Keith Lamb. "In fact, I think it's fair to say that when Mark left Australia to come back to England, he thought he might be getting off the plane and coming to Middlesbrough.
"It was only halfway through that we just ran out of time it was transfer deadline day. But we've kept our interest alive since then and picked it up again as soon as the season ended.
*Newly promoted Primera Liga side Levante have announced that Leeds' Republic of Ireland defender Ian Harte will sign for the club today.
The club says Harte will arrive in Valencia at 3pm Spanish time before undergoing his club medical and being officially presented at the Hotel Melia Valencia Palace at midday.
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