Man Utd tipped to avoid 'irrational' Hayden Hackney decision as £30m Middlesbrough price revealed | OneFootball

FLW’s Middlesbrough fan pundit has discussed Boro’s demand of £30m for midfielder Hayden Hackney in the January transfer window.

Middlesbrough will be hopeful of achieving their Premier League ambitions under Kim Hellberg.

Heading into the second half of the campaign, Boro are well-placed to end their nine-year exodus from the big time and get themselves back amongst England’s elite sides, with consistently positive results and performances required to make it a reality.

If the Teesside outfit were able to achieve this, it would end many years of pain and disappointment in the second-tier, with Boro either narrowly missing out of the play-offs or not quite good enough out of the top six to gain promotion over this period.

A big part of their ability to consistently be towards the top end of the Championship table is though is blending the right amount of senior experience with up-and-coming talent in the game.

One of those that falls into the latter category is midfielder Hayden Hackney, who has made his mark in a Middlesbrough shirt after breaking through the academy system.

The 23-year-old has been a regular in the first-team setup at the Riverside Stadium over the last four seasons, but properly announced him onto the second-tier stage last season when featuring 43 times, scoring five goals and producing three assists.

And this season, Hackney looks on course to break into his best season for attacking contributions in a Boro shirt, highlighting his importance in both defensive duties and in the final third.

With an impressive second-tier pedigree and potential to go right to the very top of the game, it’s no surprise to have seen some heavyweight sides keeping their eye on Hackney.

The likes of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are keen on a potential swoop in January, as per TeamTalk, with the former to be expected given Red Devils boss Michael Carrick previously worked with Hackney at Boro.

Other top-flight teams keeping tabs over this saga include Everton and Fulham, so it seems the best way for Boro to keep hold of their star player is by achieving promotion themselves.

And with the speculation continuing to ramp up, the same report has revealed that Middlesbrough are demanding nothing short of £30m to secure Hackney’s services, leading to the question of whether the interested parties will commit to that much money at this stage of the season.

With this in mind, FLW’s Middlesbrough fan pundit has given his thoughts on the decision and whether he can see a side paying the requested sum in the next couple of weeks.

Speaking to Football League World, Middlesbrough fan pundit Liam Day admits he cannot see any side paying £30m for Hayden Hackney in January, insisting the interested clubs may wait to see if Middlesbrough seal promotion back to the Premier League or not to try and sign him on a cheaper deal in the summer.

Liam told FLW: “I’d be very surprised if anyone came in for Hackney this month, simply because if we don’t go up in the summer, his value will be a good £10m less. I think Man Utd are desperate for a midfielder, and they could do with him, but I don’t think he’s ready for that sort of level.

“I think it would be a bit wild if they decided to come in for Hackney now. That would be an irrational decision, so I think he’ll stay.

“I think we’ll hold firm and £30m would probably be too good to turn down, as the reinvestment you can do to the squad would be ridiculous, but to replace him in January would be near impossible.

“You are also sabotaging yourself quite a bit, but looking at it from a financial point of view, promotion to the Premier League is more valuable, so I think we do need to hold firm, keep him this month and hope we get promoted.”

As he was under predecessor Rob Edwards, Hayden Hackney has been an ever-present under Kim Hellberg, and has been such a pivotal player to help Middlesbrough have an opportunity of returning to the Premier League.

While the January transfer window gives teams a second chance to improve certain areas of their squads, it should not be a window where your top talent gets poached, and your team becomes weaker, particularly if you can afford to keep them.

So from this point of view, you can only praise Boro for demanding what would be a record-breaking selling fee for testing the resolve of the interested parties to see if they want to go all out to secure the midfielder's signature right now.

While this decision could blow up in Boro’s face, it seems unlikely that those interested sides would want to part ways with that much cash at this stage, and would instead hope Boro fail in their quest to gain promotion, which would lead them to landing Hackney for a cheaper price.

But from a Middlesbrough perspective, they simply cannot afford to lose such an integral part to their team when they are being hunted down for an automatic promotion spot, and you do feel that their push for Premier League football would derail entirely if he departed the club before the end of the month.

Therefore, Boro should carry on as normal and keep him at the club at all costs, addressing the situation at the end of the season when the Teesside outfit knows exactly which division they’ll be playing in next term.