Jeremie Aliadiere spoke of his time at Middlesbrough and hopes for promotion this season

Jeremie Aliadiere believes Middlesbrough belong in the Premier League, and hopes Kim Hellberg can guide them there this season.

Boro have enjoyed a great start to the season and currently sit level on points with second-placed West Ham, behind them on goal difference alone.

Currently going at a rate of two points per game which is always good enough to at least be in the promotion mix come the end of a season, the big thing for Boro will be sustaining that throughout the testing 46-game campaign.

Speaking after appearing as a guest on Head2Head from the Clubhouse, presented by Betway, former Boro striker Aliadiere said: “Middlesbrough belong in the Premier League, so I'm delighted to see them competing up at the top of the Championship.

“Hopefully they can kick on this year and get promoted. There are some big clubs in the Championship, though, so it won't be easy going up against the likes of West Ham and Wolves etc. But they've had a great start to the season, so hopefully they can do it.”

Aliadiere spent three seasons at Boro, making 86 appearances in total. His first two years were spent in the Premier League, with his final year at the club in the Championship after relegation.

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Leaving at the end of his contract in 2010, he subsequently returned unofficially after the club allowed him to use their facilities to rehabilitate a knee ligament injury suffered while on trial at West Ham. Boro held a special place in the Frenchman’s heart for good reason then.

''From the first day I signed for Middlesbrough, I felt the love from everybody at the club, including the fans,” he said. “I really enjoyed my time there.

“People in Middlesbrough love their football, and they absolutely live for their club, so it was amazing to be a part of that. The stadium was full every week, the atmosphere was electric, and it's just a great club.

“As difficult as it was, I had to leave Arsenal because I wanted to play football, and I'm so thankful that Gareth Southgate gave me that opportunity to play.

“I was gutted when we got relegated, but playing in the Championship was a real eye-opener for me. People think it's easy dropping down from the Premier League to the Championship, but that wasn't the case at all.”

Southgate was the manager for the majority of his three years at the club. His first club management role, it would end in disappointment.

But the Boro legend would go on to become England’s most successful manager since Sir Alf Ramsey, guiding England to two European championship finals and a World Cup semi final.

Having been out of the game since leaving his role with the Three Lions in 2024, Southgate recently admitted he doesn’t see a return to management in his future.

On their time together at Boro, Aliadiere said: ''I think it was difficult for Gareth at Middlesbrough because he went straight from retirement to the dugout, and going from a team-mate to a boss is a hard thing to do.

“Certainly, for some of the senior players that were at the club at the time, I think it was difficult for them to deal with. His man-management skills were exceptional though, and you could see the potential he had to be a top manager.

“I just think Gareth needed time to adjust to that transition of going from being a player to a manager, and once he had that, he went on to do an exceptional job with England.

“I know things won't have panned out exactly as he'd have liked at Middlesbrough, but I'm sure he looks back on that period as instrumental in terms of what he learned from it.''