Middlesbrough must force Everton into player swap if Hayden Hackney goes | OneFootball

Middlesbrough should look to bring in Everton's Harrison Armstrong to the club if Hayden Hackney heads in the opposite direction

Middlesbrough will be playing Championship football once again next season, with the Teesside outfit resigned to their tenth consecutive year in the second tier after suffering play-off heartbreak.

It was so close, and yet so far for Boro, who will be playing in the Championship next season.

Rob Edwards kicked off the campaign as the man at the helm at the Riverside, but he would quickly jump ship for Premier League outfit Wolverhampton Wanderers, as Swedish boss Kim Hellberg stepped in as his replacement.

Under Hellberg, Boro played some of the best football the Championship has ever seen, from a neutral standpoint, but couldn't turn their domination into three points as often as required, and subsequently slipped from the automatic places and into the play-offs.

Boro were given a lifeline as Southampton, who defeated them 2-1 in the semi-finals, were thrown out of the competition for spying on various opponents, including Middlesbrough, though they couldn't take advantage in the final, losing 1-0 late on to Hull City.

This means exits from the club are on the cards this summer, including star midfielder Hayden Hackney, who has been heavily linked with a move to Premier League side Everton recently, as Boro should use the Toffees' interest to strike a deal of their own.

Middlesbrough should take advantage of Everton's Hayden Hackney interest to strike a deal for Harrison Armstrong

Hackney, 23, has been a Premier League player in waiting for a couple of years now, but has consistently pledged his allegiance to his boyhood club, with whom he has made 154 appearances across all competitions.

Named as the Championship Player of the Season and Middlesbrough's Player of the Season, it has long been assumed that the Englishman will be playing top-flight football next season regardless of Boro's fate. It was just a question of who that would be for.

Now, Everton have seemingly moved into pole position for Hackney's signature, and Middlesbrough should be looking to include a loan deal for Harrison Armstrong in any deal which sees their star man head to Merseyside.

Armstrong, 19, is one of the most highly-rated products that has come through the Toffees' academy in years, and spent the first half of the campaign out on loan with Preston North End in the Championship.

At Deepdale, Armstrong quickly shot into prominence for his displays in the middle of the park for the Lilywhites, making 17 appearances for the Lancashire outfit, scoring once and assisting once before Everton recalled him in the January window.

With Idrissa Gueye heading to the African Cup of Nations, David Moyes' side were left short in midfield, and decided to recall Armstrong from his loan spell to provide competition for the likes of James Garner, Tim Iroegbunam, and Charly Alcaraz.

The England youth international made 13 Premier League appearances in the second half of the campaign, though managed just over half an hour on the field across three appearances in the final ten games of the season, with his game time tailing off at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Armstrong could well head out on loan once again next season in search of more game time, and Middlesbrough would be an ideal fit with Hackney heading the other way.

Partnering with Aidan Morris in the middle of the park for Kim Hellberg's side, the 19-year-old would almost certainly be a regular at the Riverside, and this deal could be a winning situation for everyone involved.

A huge talent, Armstrong cannot afford to be wasted on Everton's bench, and if Hackney does indeed move to Merseyside, the teenager should head in the opposite direction.

Kim Hellberg faces an impossible task of replacing Hayden Hackney at Middlesbrough amid Everton rumours

Whoever replaces Hackney in Middlesbrough's midfield next season will face an almost impossible task of replicating his output.

The Boro native was by far and away the best midfielder in the division this year, and replacing someone of his quality, whilst replicating his love for the club, is a truly impossible task for Hellberg.

The Swedish boss can only help to mitigate his departure by finding a similar profile, and Armstrong, whilst not completely similar, ticks the box for what Boro should be looking for.

As for now, Hackney remains a Boro player, though whether that will be the case by the end of the window looks increasingly doubtful, as Hellberg should use Armstrong in negotiations with Everton to his advantage.