Middlesbrough once paid £6m for Aston Villa flop - he now pulls strings at controversial club

The £6m deal to sign Rudy Gestede failed to keep Middlesbrough in the Premier League in 2017

Middlesbrough’s return to the Premier League had the team sitting just outside the relegation zone when Rudy Gestede joined the club from Aston Villa.

The forward made the switch to the Riverside in a deal worth a reported £6 million, as the team looked to survive in their first year back in the top flight.

Aitor Karanka guided the Teesside outfit to promotion in 2016, returning to the division after an eight-year absence.

And the Spaniard’s side were sitting in 16th, four points clear of Sunderland in 18th on 2 January when Gestede signed from the Championship.

Rudy Gestede couldn’t save Middlesbrough from relegation

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Gestede was a part of the Aston Villa side that suffered relegation from the Premier League in 2016, but he acquitted himself well despite their 20th place finish.

And it was his five goals in 32 appearances that convinced Boro he could help them remain in the division.

However, the striker scored just once in 16 games in the Premier League, with his strike against Manchester United coming just three days following Karanka’s exit.

Middlesbrough’s form nosedived in the second half of the campaign, and Gestede was a part of the team as they finished 19th in the table, making for a disappointing outcome for a deal that cost so much.

Rudy Gestede’s lack of Championship impact

Middlesbrough appointed Garry Monk as manager following their relegation back to the Championship, and the club were hoping he could guide them back to the top flight at the first attempt.

And Boro were able to reach the play-offs, but Gestede had a minimal impact in their fifth-place finish.

The forward contributed three goals and two assists from 19 league appearances, with injury issues hampering his availability.

The Teesside outfit lost in the play-offs to Gestede’s former side Villa in the semi-finals, with the Benin international featuring just 23 more times for the club in the league in the following two campaigns, scoring twice.

Rudy Gestede’s controversial post-career at Blackburn Rovers

Gestede retired in 2022, just two years after his exit from the Riverside, after brief stints with Melbourne Victory, Panetolikos and Esteghlal in Australia, Greece and Iran.

Unlike a lot of ex-pros, Gestede didn’t move into a coaching role after his playing days ended, but he instead moved into a key role behind the scenes at his former club Blackburn Rovers.

The 37-year-old was named as the Lancashire outfit’s head of football operations in the summer of 2024, putting him in a key recruitment role.

However, he has sparked the ire of supporters in his two years in this position so far, with Rovers failing to invest properly in the transfer market during his tenure.

Rudy Gestede under pressure at Blackburn

Gestede’s first big misfire at Ewood Park came with the departure of John Eustace in February 2025 for the struggling Derby County, with the club unable to hold onto their promising coach despite being in contention for a play-off place.

The 46-year-old made the switch to a team contending against relegation from the Championship, and has received far better backing at Pride Park since that move.

Meanwhile, Blackburn have gone through Valerien Ismael and Michael O’Neill in that time, with Tony Mowbray now back at the helm.

Disappointments in the transfer market have also led to fan frustration, with the latest debacle leading to Rovers failing to sign Ryotara Ito as a free agent.

FLW’s Blackburn fan pundit, Simon Middlehurst, went so far as to claim that Gestede’s exit would be the best news Blackburn fans would have heard in a long time as recently as May of this year.

At this point, it would have to take a significant turnaround in fortune for the former Boro player to win back over the Rovers fans, as he pulls the strings for the controversial Venky’s ownership.