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Boro are hopeful to completing a deal to sign Aston Villa winger Adama Traore.

The 20-year-old Spanish youth international is understood to be travelling to Rockliffe Park on Tuesday evening ahead of contract talks and a medical on Wednesday.

Traore moved to Villa Park from Barcelona in August 2015 for an reported fee of £7m but endured a frustrating campaign last season.

Highly-rated and boasting an electric turn of pace, Traore suffered a broken foot in January but is fully fit and ready to resurrect his career at Boro.

His struggles last season can largely be put down to Villa’s woeful league form and a chaotic change of management which saw Tim Sherwood replaced by Remi Garde, who failed to turn around the club’s Premier League fortunes and resigned in March with Eric Black taking temporary charge of first team affairs.

A product of Barcelona’s academy, Traore was signed by Sherwood, who told the BBC at the time: “He’s dynamic, very quick and a maverick-type player.

“You never know what he’s going to do next – and I mean that as a compliment.

“He’s a huge asset for this club. He can hurt the opposition and I’m delighted to bring him here.

“He comes from a very good Academy with Barcelona and I’ve known him a long time.

“He makes his mind up when he gets the ball and those players are rare. There aren’t many players in the Premier League who can do that.

“We’re getting him at the midway part of his development. He’s not the finished article by a long way.”

In February, the Daily Telegraph claimed that Traore had a clause in his contract that meant his wages would rise to more than £90,000 in his third season at Villa.

The article also claimed he had a ‘relegation clause’ in his contract.

The Gazette understands that under the terms of his move to Villa, Barcelona have first refusal on Traore but are unlikely to invoke that clause, leaving the way clear for Boro.