Leeds United will struggle to seal £30m Middlesbrough deal | OneFootball

Middlesbrough's status in the Championship's top two would make it very difficult for Leeds to sign their star midfielder

Hayden Hackney has, once again, shown this season why he's one of the best players currently playing in the Championship.

The 23-year-old equalled his best scoring tally in one league campaign in Sunday's 4-0 drubbing of QPR, and he has a personal best six assists to go along with those five goals, too.

Hackney has been the subject of transfer talk for a few windows now. The Boro academy man was linked with Manchester United in the summer, just days after he had almost made the divisional switch to promotion rivals Ipswich Town for what would have been a Championship record fee of £20 million.

That interest has unsurprisingly not died down, especially in the midst of what is a career year for the midfielder. Alax Nixon reported last month that Leeds United were the latest side to register their interest, with other reports citing that they would have to part with £30 million to bring him in.

With this interest, plus a contract that runs out at the end of next season, it's a given that Hackney will be playing Premier League football come the summer.

However, could his Premier League dreams be obtained at his current club?

Middlesbrough are in the driving seat for promotion ahead of the run-in

Ipswich were the first team to blink in the promotion run-in this season, after they were held by struggling Leicester City on Saturday.

Middlesbrough would take full advantage with their emphatic 4-0 win at QPR to move four points ahead of Millwall, and five above Ipswich, also ensuring that the game in hand held by the Tractor Boys wouldn't see them leapfrog them with a win.

Now, all the cards are in Kim Hellberg's hands, and while there will still be some twists and turns in the race for promotion between now and the end of the campaign, more belief is being instilled at the Riverside regarding a Premier League return as the days go by.

Ipswich are going to incur a hefty fixture backlog between now and the end of the campaign, with Southampton's progression in the FA Cup resulting in their Good Friday game needing to be rearranged.

That, plus the game in hand at Portsmouth, results in two long South Coast midweek trips while Middlesbrough rest up ahead of the weekend, and many critics believe that they'll have enough to keep Millwall at bay in the meantime.

With Hackney playing at the peak of his powers in the middle of the pitch, every one of his teammates gets a needed boost, too, resulting in positive results, which keeps his side in the top two. If they stay there and secure a Premier League return after nine years away, they'll stand in good stead to keep Hackney at the Riverside.

The 23-year-old was born a mere eight miles away from Middlesbrough in Redcar, and, having spent all of his youth career at Boro, too, has clear ties with the club.

The only thing that would make him want to leave would be for Premier League football, but he may be receiving that next season at the Riverside. If he does, you'd expect that he'll have no reason to want to leave.

Leeds United and other Premier League suitors will still test Middlesbrough's resolve in the summer for Hayden Hackney transfer

Ultimately, while Middlesbrough's potential status as a Premier League club will give them some leeway in retaining Hackney, there'll still be clubs who are more established in the top flight, like Leeds, Manchester United, or even Everton, who have also been credited with interest, looking to swoop in.

While Kim Hellberg's style of play has Boro fans excited about the future and hopeful that they could make a splash as a Premier League team, there's never a guarantee that it'll work out.

If Boro keep Hackney for a year in the Premier League — the final year of his contract — and they go down, then there's a high, if not certain, chance that he'll leave for free at the end of the campaign.

So, while the 23-year-old is yet to be tied down to a new contract, fellow Premier League sides will be poking their head around the door at the Riverside to see if they can tempt Hackney over to their side.

Overall, this summer is going to be an interesting one, surrounding the future of Hackney. Middlesbrough knows that they need to tie him down to improved terms, and a place in the Premier League will help with that, but it's not a certainty that it'll be enough.