Middlesbrough's £5.25m Spurs transfer agreement was short but sweet | OneFootball

Boro broke their transfer record in 1995 to sign an England international from Spurs, and his stay on Teesside was short but highly impactful.

By the summer of 1995, the Bryan Robson revolution had swept across Teesside, as his Middlesbrough team had stormed to the First Division title and were ready to make their mark in the Premier League once again.

Indeed, the mid 90s were a hugely exciting time to be a Boro fan.

Lennie Lawrence's side won automatic promotion in the 1991/92 season, which ensured Middlesbrough would become one of the 22 founding members of the inaugural 1992/93 Premier League season.

The Teessiders would finish 21st and were subsequently relegated however, but Lawrence once again laid solid foundations back in the First Division (Championship) for Robson to take over as player-manager for the 1994/95 campaign.

It was to be a memorable year too, as thanks to the goals of John Hendrie, Craig Hignett and the heroic short-term loan of Uwe Fuchs, as well as well-organised and steely midfield and defensive units, Boro were soon back among English football's elite.

Bryan Robson smashed Middlesbrough's transfer record with £5.25m signing of Spurs and England star Nicky Barmby

Determined to see his Middlesbrough team not befall the same fate of Lawrence's previous Premier League Boro side, Robson, with the typically unwavering backing of chairman Steve Gibson, went on a summer spending spree that put the entire division on notice.

Among the new arrivals were Manchester United goalkeeper Gary Walsh and Brazilian icon Branco, but Middlesbrough stunned everyone when they broke their club transfer record in early August to sign Spurs and England attacking midfielder Nicky Barmby for £5.25m.

Just 21 at the time, Barmby was one of the hottest young talents in English football, and had already established himself as an important first-team player for Tottenham at the age of 18.

He'd scored 27 goals and provided 19 assists in just over 100 appearances for Spurs before signing for Boro, and had already earned his first senior England cap in March of 1995, coming on as a substitute in a goalless draw vs Uruguay in a friendly at the old Wembley Stadium.

So, for Middlesbrough to be able to persuade him to sign for a newly promoted team was an unbelievable statement of intent, with the club obviously keen to mark their first season in their new Riverside Stadium home with a team to match their clearly lofty ambitions for the future.

It also undoubtedly played a part in attracting a Brazilian who would go on to become Middlesbrough's undisputed greatest ever player shortly after Barmby inked his Boro contract: Juninho.

Indeed, 'The Little Fella' would sign from São Paulo for £4.75m in October 1995, but would endure a challenging debut season on Teesside, and wouldn't be until the following season he'd really burst into life.

Barmby would soon become an instant fan favourite among Smoggies everywhere when he netted on his debut vs Arsenal at Highbury, and in the following Premier League game against Chelsea, would tee up Craig Hignett to score the first competitive goal at the Riverside Stadium.

Linking up with fellow forwards Hignett, Jan Åge Fjørtoft, Hendrie and Juninho, Barmby enjoyed a superb debut season as a Middlesbrough player, scoring seven league goals in 32 appearances which was enough to crown him as the top scorer, as Robson's reds finished their first season back in the top flight with a 12th-placed finish.

Barmby was small in stature, but he was razor sharp on the ball, with his footballing intelligence and superb technical ability enabling him to play a part in some wonderful team goals, as he so often popped up in the right place at the right time to punish unsuspecting defenders.

Nicky Barmby fell victim to more big-name Middlesbrough signings - Everton gladly benefitted from that

Following Middlesbrough's successful first season back in the Premier League, Robson once again pushed the boat out in the transfer market and capitalised on Boro's ever-growing status as one of England's most exciting up-and-coming clubs.

Big-money was spent on the likes of defensive midfielder Emerson and goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, talented young forward Mikkel Beck joined from German side Fortuna Koln, whilst the marquee addition of the 1996 summer window was the capture of Juventus striker Fabrizio Ravanelli.

As such, Middlesbrough's attacking options were now flooded with some genuinely world class players in the likes of Juninho and Ravanelli, whilst it was also deep with superbly gifted players in their own right such as Beck, Hignett and Phil Stamp respectively.

However, come October 1996, and having made 10 Premier League appearances with just one goal to his name, Barmby and Middlesbrough would make the decision to sell him to Everton for a fee of £5.75m.

Boro fans did get a brief glimpse of what a forward line of Barmby, Ravanelli and Juninho looked like, but with Juninho now blossoming into the superstar he was destined to become, there just didn't appear to be enough minutes and opportunities to go round for all of them to be content with the roles they were playing.

So much of Middlesbrough's creative play from the previous season went through Barmby, and with that no longer the case, he must have understandably been frustrated with his lessened importance to the team.

That didn't take away from Barmby's Boro exploits though, as he was in so many ways the trailblazer for numerous global stars to descend on Teesside to come and play for the club in the years to come, and without him, Robson's team may very well not have survived in the Premier League in that 95/96 season.

As it happened, Middlesbrough would go on to suffer relegation in that 96/97 season, having been controversially deducted three points for postponing a fixture vs Blackburn Rovers due to Robson's insistence that there was illness and injury in the camp, and despite the fact they finished runners-up in both the FA Cup and League Cup that year too.

Barmby's time in the North East was short-lived, but for those Smoggies who saw him play, he is a player that will always draw a smile when hearing his name, as he starred in what was one of the club's greatest eras.