JUMPING THROUGH THE WINDOW

If you think the Berahino's transfer is a mess, then have a read of this one.

Middlesbrough concluded a last gasp deal worth around £2.6m , with Uruguay champions Nacional less than a hour before the transfer window slammed shut after a tense transAtlantic race against time.

23 year old, Carlos De Pena’s registration was owned by two parties - common in Latin America - there was also a row between them over whether to accept the Boro bid for one of Uruguay’s hottest prospects.

The on-off move was finally completed at Heathrow Airport after Nacional’s chief negotiator made a 7,000 mile 14 hour flight through the night.

But the player was not on the plane. He was forced to stop off in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo where he took a medical hastily arranged after a phone call to past Boro icon Juninho, who helped.

He had signed all his paperwork though and so the registration formalities could be concluded in his absence.

He has an Italian passport so will not need a work permit but Boro must now apply for international clearance, which is a formality.

Aitor Karanka, Middlesbrough's manager said “He is a winner, he is experienced - he’s played in the Copa Libertadores - and I am really pleased because he will be a good signing for us.”

But the deal for De Pena, a left sided winger, who has scored 10 goals in 53 games, almost collapsed several times.

His economic rights are owned jointly by the club and by the Paco Casal Group. Casal is an ex-Atletico Madrid player turned agent who is one of the most influential figures in the Uruguayan game.

He visited Rockliffe over the weekend to thrash out a deal with Boro chiefs and it appeared the move would go smoothly.

The players was at the airport yesterday ready to fly in to sign - but Nacional directors intervened to block the move as they did not believe the fee was high enough for their key player.

Twice they ordered De Pena not to get on flights and when ordered home he was involved in a car crash - with he and his mother needing treatment.

When in hospital the situation changed again and he was told to return to the airport, but time was running out - and it seemed with just a two hour window after landing at Heathrow there would be no time for a full medical.

So he and a senior Nacional official jetted to Sao Paulo where he used the medical facilities used by Juninho’s club Ituano for his tests while the negotiator flew on.

Even while the flight was airborne the deal faced turbulence as news of the controversial move broke in Uruguay.

It lead to a backlash among the club’s 60,000 members and a political faction fight in the Nacional boardroom. But the player insisted he wanted to go and the club reluctantly accepted it.