Middlesbrough supporters may have Aidan Morris fear looming: View | OneFootball

Boro fans will be hoping Aidan Morris returns from the United States national team injury-free

Aidan Morris has been a revelation for Middlesbrough at the start of the 24/25 campaign, with the summer arrival hitting the ground running at The Riverside.

Since making the reported $4 million move from Columbus Crew in the MLS in the summer, the midfielder’s influence on Michael Carrick’s side has been marked, with a number of top performances in the middle of the park.

Whether he is playing his part in trying to unlock an opposition defence, or breaking up attacks when Boro are out of possession, the 22-year-old is already producing the sort of form that saw him considered one of the top talents in the US in his early years.

But with the young star heading back to his homeland for an international double-header against Canada and New Zealand in the week to come, Boro fans will be watching from behind the sofa with their fingers crossed that he returns unscathed.

Aidan Morris lauded after early Middlesbrough impact

starting all four of Boro’s league matches to date.

Victories over Cardiff City and Swansea City have bookended a 2-2 draw with Portsmouth and 1-0 defeat to Derby County, in what has been a mixed bag of results in the early stages of the campaign.

But one constant over the first month of the season has been the performances of Morris, who has been the beating heart of the Teessiders’ game plan with his intense work rate in the midfield.

The American hasn’t gone unnoticed by EFL pundit George Elek, who singled the star out for praise on the most-recent edition of the Not The Top 20 podcast.

He said: "Normally, if you look at players who have 95% pass completion rates as he does, it's normally a player like Matt Grimes. Someone who sits very deep, and whose job it is to get the ball off the defensive unit, and basically recycle it.

"Whereas Morris is someone who's playing higher than that, and whose getting a lot of touches in the opposition box, a lot of touches in the final third, and yet still has an insanely high pass completion rate.

"That is cool. If you've got a player who is consistently being able to find a teammate, when they're playing that high, that's a skillset that you don't see very often.

"So, he's definitely someone I'm looking forward to seeing more of."

With that high praise testament to the sort of performances that Morris has been putting in so far this season, an energy-sapping trip Stateside is the last thing Boro fans will want for their midfielder just as the season is about to get into full swing.

Aidan Morris injury history could be a fear for Middlesbrough fans

Any worries over Morris’ fitness won’t be helped by his past record, with an ACL injury ruling him out for the entirety of the 2021 MLS campaign, which was a major setback in his development after such a bright start to his career.

The midfielder returned with gusto after that lengthy setback though, and had made himself a regular in the Columbus Crew side over the past few seasons; helping his side win the MLS Cup in 2023.

Having been a constant feature for the United States’ youth teams during his development, Morris already has five international caps under his belt, with his debut coming in a friendly against Serbia last year.

Two appearances at the Gold Cup followed last summer as the Stars and Stripes made it to the final four, while his most recent outing came in a friendly against Slovenia earlier this year.