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Jonathan Woodgate has returned to Middlesbrough on a free transfer from Premier League side Stoke City.

The defender has agreed a three-year contract at the Riverside after passing a medical on Friday.

Woodgate, 32, left Boro for Tottenham in an £8m deal four and a half years ago, in August 2006.

He won eight England caps between 1999 and 2008, the last coming in a 2-2 draw with the Czech Republic.

Middlesbrough-born Woodgate's career has been which have seen him play just 329 games in a professional career that began at Leeds United in 1998.

He in August the following year.

But injuries took their toll and he made just 12 appearances in almost three years at the Bernabeu and spent before joining his hometown club permanently.