EMERSON Moises Costa has a lot to thank the North East for.

Transformed into a world class midfielder by Bobby Robson at Porto, Emmo turned down Sampdoria, Fiorentina, Inter Milan and Roma to sign for Boro and link up with fellow Brazilians Branco and Juninho.

Emmo earned the tag "the new Bryan Robson", not because they both had dodgy perms but because they both enjoyed mixing it all over the pitch, tackling back and scoring.

Unfortunately Mrs Emerson didn't like to be beside the Teesside, which began a regrettable period in the club's history.

Emmo returned to Brazil with the promise he'd seen the last of Middlesbrough.

There was a suggestion that his advisors wanted to force Boro to sell him but the club refused to be pushed about.

In weeks he was back in the side. In fact he stayed on after Juninho and Ravanelli left, bringing along his look-a-like cousin Fabio.

He never quite recreated his early form and Emmo's late return from a Christmas trip to Brazil was the final straw for manager Bryan, who sold him to Tenerife in 1999.

He later played for Atletico Madrid and returned to Britain with Glasgow Rangers in summer 2003.