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West Ham United have confirmed on the club’s official website that Ashley Fletcher has left to join Middlesbrough on a permanent deal.

Middlesbrough have signed Ashley Fletcher for a transfer fee of £6.5m.

Ashley Fletcher leaves West Ham with first team opportunities looking increasingly limited.

The 21-year-old played twenty times for the Hammers after joining the club from Manchester United last summer.

This included sixteen Premier League games but only two of those were starts.

Prior to joining West Ham, Fletcher enjoyed a profitable loan spell in League One with Barnsley, where he scored in their play-off final win over Millwall.

Fletcher’s only goal for the Irons came in a League Cup loss against his former club, Manchester United, at Old Trafford.

Following the arrival of Javier Hernandez, the former England under-20 international’s first team hopes took another blow and he has now dropped down to the Championship, where he joins recently relegated Middlesbrough.

Ashley Fletcher is a towering centre forward with pace and strength but many fans felt that he was not given enough of an opportunity to shine.

At Middlesbrough, he will compete with Britt Assombalonga, Martin Braithwaite, Rudy Gestede and Patrick Bamford for the striker spot.

He follows Darren Randolph to Middlesbrough this summer.