TONY PULIS will make Huddersfield winger Rajiv van La Parra his first signing of the January transfer window after completing a medical at Middlesbrough.

The Dutchman was at Rockliffe Park to discuss the finer details of the move after an agreement was reached between the two clubs.

It means van La Parra should sign a loan deal until the end of the season and there will then be an option to buy him if things work out.

Middlesbrough have things in place for him to complete the switch on January 1, but that will not be in time for him to go straight into the squad to face Derby at Pride Park on New Year’s Day.

Pulis is desperate to have fresh faces in his squad next month and van La Parra – the half brother of Liverpool’s Gini Wijnaldum - is one of the wingers he has in mind to recruit.

The 27-year-old’s pace and willingness to get at his man is something Middlesbrough have lacked since losing Adama Traore to Wolves in an £18m deal in the summer.

Middlesbrough are also interested in Crystal Palace’s playmaker Jason Puncheon and Aston Villa’s Albert Adomah, although that deal did hit the buffers in the summer so other options have been considered.

Pulis made no secret of his frustration last August when Middlesbrough were unable to bring in the likes of Puncheon and Yannick Bolasie, who ended up heading to Aston Villa instead. Van La Parra was on Middlesbrough’s radar then too.

Middlesbrough, who are also known to have considered a swap between Britt Assombalonga and Connor Wickham with Palace, have seen their promotion charge stutter in the last month.

After returning to winning ways at Reading last Saturday they then were booed off the pitch at the Riverside Stadium on Boxing Day when Sheffield Wednesday secured a 1-0 win. Middlesbrough are fifth and have got nine points to make up on second place Norwich, with the aim to finish in the top two.

They face Ipswich at the Riverside on Saturday when Pulis knows a failure to beat the Championship’s bottom club would be met with further criticism from the fans.

Middlesbrough have failed to win seven of their matches so far this season on home soil in the league and they also suffered defeat in the Carabao Cup quarter-final there to Burton.

Sections of fans got on the players and Pulis’ backs on Boxing Day for failing to test the keeper enough, with sarcastic chants of “attack, attack, attack.”

Middlesbrough defender Aden Flint said: “That’s football isn’t it? People are allowed to boo. They have paid their hard-earned money and if they are not happy with what’s happening on the pitch then they are entitled to boo.

“Listen, we are grown men. If we are not getting results then they are going to boo. It is down to us to get the right results to stop them from booing.

“At the start of the Sheffield Wednesday game the atmosphere was great. We started well and played some good football but their goal caught us cold and just deflated us.  We gave it a right good go in the second half but it wasn’t to be.”

Despite an admission from Pulis and the players that Middlesbrough fans have every right to be critical, the manager was also quick to highlight how he thinks they are still getting into dangerous areas and that the annoying part is they do not test the goalkeeper enough.

Pulis highlighted, like he has a few times this season, how more than 30 crosses were delivered against the Owls, although the argument would be that a lot of those come from set-pieces.

Flint said: “We just needed one of those crosses to pay off, someone to get a nick on it. We are getting in the right positions. The gaffer said we had 30 crosses and that is a fantastic stat we just need to get on the end of one of them.”

Now Middlesbrough must come up with a way to win for only the second time at the Riverside in nine matches on Saturday, and Wednesday’s caretaker boss Lee Bullen is convinced Pulis can address it.

Bullen said: “Hillsborough has been similar to that prior to these two wins we have had. The 7, 8,9, 10 games prior to that. We know exactly how that pans out when things aren’t going your way and as I say they started very brightly until we adjusted our formation.

“If they can keep it tight for 15/20 minutes, the crowd start to get a bit frustrated and it’s the same for Tony here at Middlesbrough.  “He’s an experienced manager, he’ll come through it. I tell you what, on paper their squad of players is good enough to be right up there. It won’t take them long to turn it round.”