Middlesbrough react to Ipswich Town bid for Hayden Hackney - deal could happen | OneFootball

The Tractor Boys have had a bid for the England under-21 international accepted by the Teessiders.

Middlesbrough have accepted a bid from Ipswich Town for Hayden Hackney that could be worth up to £20 million.

The Tractor Boys are trying to address their issues in the centre of the pitch by signing one of the second-tier competitor's best players.

Sam Morsy, Massimo Luongo, Jens Cajuste and Kalvin Phillips have all departed Portman Road at various points this summer, leaving the recently relegated outfit with a lot of work to do to address their lack of centre-mid options. Hackney, 23, has been a wanted man for some time now, and has been on Ipswich's radar for at least the last couple of weeks.

It has now been reported by the Northern Echo that they have had a bid accepted for the England under-21 international, who they are now in talks with over personal terms.

Middlesbrough accept Ipswich Town bid for Hayden Hackney

There is no guarantee, however, that Hackney would be willing to move to East Anglian to link up with Kieran McKenna.

The £20 million offer that Boro have accepted would see them receive the majority of the fee up front, as per the Northern Echo. Alan Nixon has also said that Ipswich will make a big offer to the player, said to be worth £35,000 per week, in order to try and convince him to join them, but money is not the only motivating factor.

Premier League options could pop up later in the transfer window should Hackney choose to stay put with Boro, whose academy he advanced through before becoming a star in their first-team. A potentially sideways move to another Championship club may not excite him that much.

If he does accept Town's proposal, that could open the door for Rob Edwards to bring in a marquee striker, according to the Northern Echo. Boro are at a "relatively advanced stage" with the signing of a new attacking option, as per the northeast outlet. That deal would be enabled by Hackney's departure.

Middlesbrough may be keen for Hackney to accept Ipswich's proposal

Edwards' first two signings as the club's new boss have been midfielders: Alfie Jones and Abdoulaye Kante. While there's no guarantee that they could fill the big boots that the academy graduate currently walks in, it at least means that the Teessiders wouldn't be short of players in Hackney's position should he depart.

Of course, they would be happy if he chose to stay, but they wouldn't have accepted the Tractor Boys' bid if they thought that it wouldn't be in the best interest of the club to do so.

The money they would stand to gain from it could help them bulk out the rest of the new Welsh boss' team, and potentially give them a better shot of finally achieving promotion back to the top flight.