Exclusive: Middlesbrough join Rangers in race for £7m Leicester City star | OneFootball

Middlesbrough are among a number of clubs eyeing up a potential move for Leicester City attacker Stephy Mavididi, Football League World has learned

Middlesbrough have joined Rangers in the race for Leicester City winger Stephy Mavididi in what represents a surprise transfer development on the eve of the 2026/27 Championship campaign, Football League World can exclusively reveal.

It has been a busy summer on Teesside after Middlesbrough were agonisingly defeated by Hull City in the Championship play-off final at Wembley in May, with Kim Hellberg bidding relentlessly to bolster his side ahead of a fresh promotion push in the upcoming season.

A series of incomings have arrived at the Riverside Stadium throughout the summer months but Boro remain in pursuit of further reinforcements before the window is up, and may now find themselves battling with Scottish giants Rangers in the race to seal a deal with Leicester following the Foxes' relegation to League One.

Middlesbrough join Rangers in transfer race for Leicester City's Stephy Mavididi

Middlesbrough have made seven signings to date, and their eighth could come in the form of Mavididi as the Championship promotion hopefuls prepare to gazump Rangers for the winger's services.

Sources have exclusively informed Football League World that Hellberg's side have registered an interest in the 28-year-old in an effort to bring him to the north-east for the new campaign.

However, FLW is also aware that Middlesbrough are far from alone in their chase, with numerous Championship rivals understood to be tracking the former Arsenal and Juventus forward.

This comes after journalist Mark Hendry reported last month that positive discussions were held between Rangers and Leicester over a potential deal for Mavididi.

In that report, it was claimed that the Glasgow outfit were willing to offer as much as £7 million to lure Mavididi north of the border, although it remains unclear whether a deal will get done at this moment in time.

Mavididi has been among the litany of players tipped to leave Leicester after suffering relegation to the third-tier, yet the divisive wide-man is currently preparing for his fourth season at the King Power Stadium.

The Gunners academy product joined Leicester from Montpellier in the summer of 2023 for a reported £6.4 million figure and helped orchestrate a successful title charge under Enzo Maresca in his debut campaign, but is yet to recapture those levels following two disappointing seasons with City.

Leicester City's Stephy Mavididi would be a high-risk, high-reward transfer for Middlesbrough

Mavididi was electric upon touching down in the East Midlands and proved an instrumental figure behind Leicester's instant return to the Premier League two years ago by featuring in every single league match and supplying 12 goals and six assists from the left flank, though much has changed since then and the ex-England youth international's standing among Leicester supporters has dropped rather dramatically.

He scored just four times as the Foxes were haplessly relegated from the top-flight last year, before faring even worse in a dismal campaign that ultimately marked successive relegations down to the third-tier for only the second time in the club's history with a mere return of three goals from 42 outings.

Mavididi's performances over the last two campaigns suggest that this would be a risky signing for Middlesbrough, although Hellberg is evidently tempted by the potential upside to be found by snapping up a winger of his ilk with undeniable talent and a strong previous body of work in a promotion-winning team at this level.

The Leicester winger can be devastating in the Championship when at full throttle - even if Leicester fans seldom saw that last time out - and, at his best, would represent a wholesale upgrade on left-sided operator Jeremy Sarmiento, who joined Boro permanently earlier this summer in a £3.2 million deal from Brighton as per the obligatory terms of his loan spell in the second-half of the previous term.

Stephy Mavididi transfer would add to a busy Middlesbrough summer

As aforementioned, it has been a blockbuster summer window at Middlesbrough in which the club have laid a marker of their intent and have hardly shied away from splashing the cash in an effort to trump last season's play-off final agony and go one better to finally return to the Premier League.

Sarmiento's permanent arrival was quickly followed up by that of Myles Peart-Harris, who joined as a free agent after spending time with Oxford United, and Kyle Joseph was soon signed from Hull for £4 million.

Middlesbrough's summer of activity would really spring into life with the eye-catching addition of striker Will Lanskhear from Tottenham Hotspur, which could become a club-record £20 million outlay if various add-on criteria are met, while USMNT international pair Sebastian Berhalter and Max Arfsten have also been snapped up for handsome figures in similarly-impressive deals.

Their latest signing is goalkeeper Radek Vitek, who joined from Manchester United last week after flourishing on loan at Bristol City for an initial £7 million sum which could rise to £14 million, but further additions are expected as Boro separately plot a new reported push for Spurs defender Ashley Phillips alongside Mavididi before the deadline day clock passes.