2 players who could follow Hayden Hackney out of Middlesbrough this summer | OneFootball

Middlesbrough look to be out of the play-off race this season.

Michael Carrick's side have struggled to pick up any real consistency so far this campaign as they sit far away from the play-off places. Last season, Boro finished 4th after a strong campaign, and fell short in the play-off semi-finals, but this season has been a totally different story.

Carrick has not been able to find the form and momentum from last season as they started the campaign in the relegation zone. They quickly climbed the table but have sat in mid-table for the last couple of months.

One of Boro's most valuable players over the last two seasons has been central midfielder, Hayden Hackney. The 21-year-old has made 20 league starts so far this campaign, and has been one of their most consistent performers.

Due to his performances over the last year and a half, there has been plenty of interest from Premier League clubs, as reported by the Daily Mail. Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester United and Manchester City are among the top-flight clubs keeping tabs on Hackney ahead of the summer transfer window.

Hackney's departure would be a huge blow for Middlesbrough, but there may be two other first-team players following him out of the door. Football League World has picked out two players who could depart the Riverside Stadium this summer.

1 Paddy McNair

While Hackney put pen to paper on a new deal last year, Paddy McNair is closing in on the end of his Boro contract.

The versatile defender has been a really useful servant on Teesside - racking up more than 200 appearances since he arrived at the club in 2018 - but it is starting to feel as though this summer could be the end of the line for him at the Riverside.

You feel that he would be further down the pecking order at the moment were Carrick to have all his defensive options available.

The club will have some decisions to make in the summer, one of them being whether to offer the 28-year-old a new deal. Reports suggest that they are "extremely unlikely" to offer him a new contract on the same terms - which is no huge surprise given Capology estimates he is one of their highest earners.

The Northern Ireland international will have options elsewhere and could well move onto one of those when the 2023/24 campaign is done.

2 Matthew Hoppe

Matthew Hoppe's Middlesbrough tenure has been underwhelming, to say the least.

The USA international appeared an exciting signing for Boro in August 2022 but unfortunately, it has not turned out that way. He has not yet proven the answer to their issues up top, despite his competition failing to fire, and he's running out of time to change things.

​​​​​​Hoppe has spent spells on loan with Hibernian and San Jose Earthquakes but neither of those were particularly impressive and you wonder whether both parties may decide that this summer is the right time to part ways.

The American still has two years left to run on his contract and Carrick may well feel a bit more patience is needed but Boro will want to recapture as much of the money they paid for him as they can and the more the 22-year-old's deal runs down, they less likely they are to do that.