Manchester United are planning to rival Tottenham Hotspur for the signing of Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney in the summer.
One of the highly-regarded talents in Championship football, Hayden Hackney, 22, has been a consistent performer for Middlesbrough over the last couple of seasons. The central midfielder has developed a lot under Michael Carrick’s watchful eyes at the Riverside Stadium, and is currently helping Middlesbrough’s promotion push.
The 22-year-old has bagged five goals and two assists in 27 Championship appearances. Hackney was the subject of two bids from FC Porto in the recently concluded January transfer window. Manchester United and Tottenham also showed interest in the player but Middlesbrough were reluctant to let one of their crucial players leave midway through their promotion push.
Nonetheless, Man United and Spurs reportedly stand a chance of landing Hackney’s signature by lodging a bid in the region of £20million in the summer.
Man United, Tottenham keen to sign Hayden Hackney
Man United and Tottenham are set to undergo surgeries to their respective squads after underwhelming Premier League campaigns. Both find themselves in the bottom half of the table, having lost 10+ games each.
The Red Devils, under Ruben Amorim’s tutelage, managed to bring in wing-back Patrick Dorgu from Serie A side Lecce in the winter window. They need major work in midfield and attack for Amorim to establish his philosophy at the club.
As far as their midfield is concerned, Christian Eriksen is a free agent at the end of the season, while the club will try their best to offload one of the squad’s highest-earners in Casemiro. Mason Mount has struggled with injuries since joining from Chelsea in 2023 and his place at Old Trafford also looks in jeopardy.
Thus, Amorim could do with a talented midfielder in Hackney. At 22, the Boro talent could be the perfect foil for the combative Manuel Ugarte, helping Man United control the tempo of games and build attacks from deep.
As for Spurs, they enjoyed a solid end to the winter transfer window. After signing goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky at the start of January, the North Londoners failed to land a single player before bringing in two players during the final days of the window.
Defender Kevin Danso arrived on loan from RC Lens before Tottenham pulled off a sizeable coup by landing highly-rated forward Mathys Tel on loan from Bayern Munich. However, the Lilywhites have seemingly started planning to reinforce their midfield unit.
Yves Bissouma will enter the final year of his contract in the summer, while Rodrigo Bentancur’s problems with fitness persists. James Maddison has failed to make much of an impact in his second season at the club and has been dropped by Ange Postecoglou a few times. Thus, it is not surprising that they set their sights on Boro’s Hackney, who fits the profile of signings perfectly at White Hart Lane. He could become an ideal long-term replacement for Bissouma under Postecoglou.
That said, it will be interesting to see who wins the battle for Hackney’s signature.
I am Rohan Sengupta from one of the busiest cities in India, Mumbai. A Journalism graduate with a keen interest in sports, football is something I simply cannot live without and writing, discussing and analyzing the game is what I do 24*7.
