Juninho pledges best is still to come for Boro

JUNINHO has pledged to play the best football of his career when he returns to action with Middlesbrough.

The 29-year-old Brazilian midfielder completed his return to Teesside in a £3.8 million move from Atletico Madrid last summer, but suffered cruciate knee ligament damage in a pre-season tournament in Italy just days after he had made his latest debut, and scored, in a friendly clash with Alaves at the Riverside Stadium.

Juninho is continuing his rehabilitation following a successful operation in America at Professor Nivaldo Baldo’s sports physiotherapy centre in Campinas, near Sao Paulo.

The midfielder admits it has been a tough time for him as he battles back to full fitness, but that having family close by has helped.

He said: “We’ve been doing lots of exercises working on power, particularly on the bike, and lots of tests. We’ve also done warm-ups similar to those the team do before games and before training. It’s all about using my left leg more and more. I could have been running a month ago but I want the knee to feel as strong as the right one, so for now we are concentrating on strengthening it. Running is not so important at the moment. Eventually we will start to do more running and the very last thing we do will be working with the football.”

He added: “When you are sad and you don’t play for so long it’s good to be with your friends and your parents. They have everything I need here and that’s why I chose to stay in Brazil. I had started to be angry and upset because I’ve never been out for so long without playing, but my friends and family are helping me.

“It’s been a very frustrating time. These things take time of course, but my wish is to come back as good as ever.” Juninho maintains he is looking forward to starting his third competitive spell with the Teesside club.

Meanwhile, Celta Vigo maintain striker Benni McCarthy will not be moving to Manchester City on loan unless the Barclaycard Premiership side guarantee to complete a permanent transfer in the summer.

The South Africa international has been linked with several English sides during the transfer window, but City have emerged as the most likely destination for the 25-year-old. The player’s representatives are currently in negotiations over a move, although Celta deny having spoken directly to the English club.

“The player’s agent (Rob Moore) and an English agent are in talks with us, but we are not negotiating directly with Manchester City,”

Celta sporting director Felix Carnero told PA International. Carnero stressed, however, that Celta are in no hurry to offload McCarthy and will only do so if the deal is right for them.