Kieran McKenna breaks silence on failed Middlesbrough, Ipswich Town transfer for Hayden Hackney | OneFootball

The Middlesbrough ace was the subject of immense transfer interest from their Championship rivals

Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna has heaped praise on the quality possessed by Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney following the Tractor Boys' unsuccessful swoop for his services in the summer transfer window.

Championship football returns on Friday night, and it is Middlesbrough and the Tractor Boys who kick off such proceedings at the Riverside Stadium, with the encounter providing a handful of subplots, and Hackney's involvement certainly falls into said category.

Indeed, the 23-year-old has been the subject of intense transfer speculation for a lengthy period of time that stretches way beyond Rob Edwards' appointment on Teesside back in June following the dismissal of Michael Carrick.

Despite the aforementioned interest, Hackney has remained at his boyhood club, at least for the time being, and, unsurprisingly, he has been an integral part of what has been a largely impressive start to the campaign for the North East side, who are looking to right the wrongs of a frustrating end to the campaign which saw them fall short of a play-off place for the second successive season after initially losing out to Coventry City at the semi-final stage two years ago.

The Reds suffered a first league defeat under Edwards last time out, with a 1-0 loss at Portsmouth also making it a run of just one win in the past five encounters ahead of a clash against McKenna's expected title favourites, who return to action off the back of a five-game unbeaten streak that was extended with a 3-1 success over East Anglian rivals, Norwich City at Portman Road.

Therefore, a high-quality encounter is expected, and the Northern Irishman, unsurprisingly, faced questions about Hackney's ability in the lead-up, given the aforementioned transfer saga.

Kieran McKenna makes "obvious" Hayden Hackney claim ahead of Middlesbrough vs Ipswich Town

As previously mentioned, Hackney has been on the radar of several clubs for some time, with sides such as Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Porto monitoring his situation back in the winter window of last season, before many expected his exit to come after Boro's shortcomings in the second tier table in May.

Following their relegation from the top flight, a rebuild was in order at Portman Road, and it was reported in July that the Suffolk club had plotted a £20m transfer bid to lure the midfielder away from their divisional rivals in what would have been a Championship transfer record, as well as a £35,000 per week contract.

Yet, whilst this bid was accepted by Middlesbrough, Hackney declined the move, before he and his current employers declared different stances on his future whereabouts throughout the remainder of the window.

Football League World exclusively revealed last month that Fulham were the latest club to show their hand in the race to sign the coveted box-to-box figure. And, whilst it seems highly unlikely that Town will go back in for his services at this stage, McKenna is fully aware of the quality he cold bring to any side.

“It's obvious he's a really good player at this level, a top player. In every transfer window there's a whole list of players that you're interested in - some arrive and some don't arrive, some situations are more public and some are less public that people never hear about," he said.

"I think we've ended up with a really strong midfield unit though. I think you can see it in the growth and the performances. Jens (Cajuste), physically, seems to be progressing really well - he's really new to the division.

“We'll keep working with Azor (Matusiwa) and Marcelino (Nunez), who are both still really, really new to the club. We've got Jack Taylor and Cam Humphreys there too. I think we've got really good strength and really good options if we can keep them all fit and available," McKenna explained.

Ipswich Town have midfield options capable of hurting any Championship opponents

Much has been made of the strength-in-depth at McKenna's disposal right throughout his squad, particularly with Jaden Philogene in a rich vein of form at this moment in time.

However, whilst it would have been a blow to see Hackney snub a summer move, it's fair to say that Ipswich's midfield is still full of stellar quality regardless.

Cajuste and Matusiwa have formed a strong partnership together in such a short period of time, whilst Nunez has already shown flashes of brilliance following his controversial switch from Norwich City.

After a slow start, the Tractor Boys are starting to show their standout quality in multiple areas. Therefore, whilst they currently sit seven places and five points behind Middlesbrough, it wouldn't surprise many if they were to edge ever closer to their upcoming opponents and the early-season pace setters.