WHEN Steve Gibson stood up to address Middlesbrough’s deflated players and coaching staff at the post-match meal that followed May’s Championship play-off final defeat to Norwich, he promised to ensure the club was “bigger and better” next season.

Everyone expected him to be as good as his word. No one, however, anticipated that his comments would mean Stewart Downing returning to the club that transformed him from a promising teenager into a fully-fledged England international, only to be forced to accept they were unable to hold on to him when bigger teams came calling.

Players don’t drop down to the Championship of their own accord, or at least they don’t if they’ve got two more years of a £70,000-a-week deal with an established Premier League club, especially when they’ve just finished the previous campaign as one of that club’s most influential performers, and with a possible international recall still on the table.

Yet Middlesbrough have persuaded Downing to do exactly that, with the 30-year-old shunning the chance to remain in the top-flight in order to return to his hometown club and spearhead their promotion push.

The deal is a sensational piece of business for Boro, both in terms of the footballing qualities that Downing will add to a squad that lacked creativity on some crucial occasions last season, and when it comes to dispelling the disappointment that accompanied May’s play-off heartbreak.

The Teessiders needed a shot in the arm as they prepare for next season – Downing’s return will provide exactly that. For all that the Pallister Park protégée has entered his 30s, he remains a sublime creative presence who should be more than capable of unpicking Championship defences.

How will his arrival square with Boro’s need to comply with the Football League’s Financial Fair Play regulations? Some supporters have questioned the wisdom of spending £5m – a fee that could potentially rise to £7m – on a midfielder when Boro also need reinforcements in defence and attack, but while Downing’s return will impact on the rest of the summer budget, Gibson has been careful with his sums.

Having received £3m from the play-off final thanks to an agreement with Norwich that guaranteed the losing club would receive all of the money on offer, the majority of Downing’s initial transfer fee is covered.

His wages, while considerable in Championship terms, will not be at the level they would have been had he remained at West Ham, and Liverpool are understood to be paying a proportion of them anyway as part of the deal that saw him leave Anfield in August 2013.

Assuming that Boro’s commitment to Downing will be around £40,000-a-week, that figure will pretty much be covered by the money that has been saved following the departure of Jonathan Woodgate, Dean Whitehead, Seb Hines and Emmanuel Ledesma.

It remains to be seen who else follows this summer, but a €3m deal for Christian Stuani remains in place, and Downing’s arrival should not prevent Boro signing another forward for next season, albeit perhaps on loan.

Today marks the sixth anniversary of Downing’s £12m departure to Aston Villa. Back then, it felt like he was leaving his hometown club with the end of his story unwritten. Over the course of the next five seasons, he has the chance to pen a fitting finale.