Middlesbrough will feel transfer decision is justified on Sunday's Euro 2024 evidence: View | OneFootball

Andraz Sporar became a cult figure during his loan spell on Teesside, but the club will feel vindicated after his Slovenia display vs Denmark.

Andraz Sporar lead the line for Slovenia during their opening Euro 2024 match vs Denmark, and his performance will leave Middlesbrough feeling justified they didn't pursue a permanent deal in 2022.

The 30-year-old played alongside the highly-rated Bejamin Sesko of RB Leipzig as the two sides played out a 1-1 draw.

But it was only three seasons ago that he was wearing the red and white shirt of Middlesbrough, as joining the club in the summer of 2021 on a season-long loan deal from Sporting CP.

He would quickly become a cult figure during his time on Teesside, largely aided by his catchy 'He's Slovenian' chat that became the soundtrack of Middlesbrough's season.

And whilst his spell at the Riverside wasn't a disaster on the pitch by any means, he frustrated fans as much as he made them burst into song, and left the club thoroughly dividing the fanbase in two as to whether a permanent deal should be sanctioned.

Football League World takes a look at the career of Sporar since his time in the North East, and reflects on his performance for Slovenia in what perhaps showed why the club was right not to pursue a big money move.

Sporar was wasteful in front of goal

Sporar is an intelligent striker, of that there isn't much doubt. His movement and positioning ability to find himself in the right place at the right time, are qualities he displayed both from his time at Middlesbrough, and on Sunday afternoon.

But before you can finish praising those attributes, you find yourself sighing at his end product when the ball arrives at his feet.

Swinging boots, near-post misses and multiple missed attempts to pick a teammate out in and around the box, Sporar's lack of composure was on clear display throughout the game.

What must be commended though is the fact he refused to lose confidence in himself, with his work-rate and desire to score goals refusing to be absent from his game.

He wasn't clinical when his chances presented themselves, and he looked like a player who requires 4-5 big chances before he puts one of them away, and that's probably because he is.

It was revealed that should either Middlesbrough have won promotion to the Premier League in the 2021/22 season, or should Sporar have netted 15 goals for Boro during that campaign, the club would've been obligated to buy the striker in the summer.

The fee that would've been is believed to have been around €8.5m euros (approx £7.1m today), in a deal that Middlesbrough chiefs at the time would likely have been happy to part with should either of those targets have been met.

As it turned out, neither of those things happened, with Sporar scoring eight goals in 37 appearances across all competitions that season, whilst the club finished in seventh place in the Championship.

Sporar returned to parent club Sporting CP in the summer of 2022, but was sold that same transfer window to Greek side Panathinaikos, where he has played his football ever since.

In the two seasons he's spent in Greece, Sporar has made 80 appearances in all competitions, scoring 27 goals and registering a further nine assists.

In the seasons that followed, the Riverside Stadium would be treated to a record-breaking goalscoring season by Chuba Akpom, and have this past season witnessed the emergence of Emmanuel Latte Lath as Boro's number nine of the future.

Therefore, shelling out on Sporar for the return he produced, and the club have seen since, should be seen as somewhat of a bullet dodged, even if it meant that Middlesbrough fans could continue singing his iconic chant - which many will say would've been worth that fee alone!