Former Middlesbrough and Arsenal player Ray Parlour has sent a warning to Boro chairman Steve Gibson ahead of 2024/25.
Middlesbrough’s promotion chances for the 2024/25 season are looking positive following their summer so far.
With the backing of owner Steve Gibson, Michael Carrick has brought three new first-team players into his squad for the coming campaign.
The Teessiders have flirted with promotion in the last two seasons under Carrick but have never been able to get the job done.
Middlesbrough finished fourth in 2022/23 before going on to lose a play-off semi-final to Coventry City.
In the previous campaign, meanwhile, Boro finished eighth in the Championship, four points outside the top six.
There were a couple of reasons for Middlesbrough’s decline in 2023/24, one of which was injury issues.
The North East outfit were inundated with injuries throughout the entire season, with Carrick missing an average of 6.5 players per game in the Championship.
Ray Parlour warning to Middlesbrough owner Steve Gibson
Another key reason for Middlesbrough’s struggles last term was the 2023 summer transfer window.
The North East outfit sold topscorer Chuba Akpom to Ajax and were unable to sign Ryan Giles, Cameron Archer or Aaron Ramsey to permanent deals after their loans expired.
This left some major holes in Boro’s starting eleven and forced them to sign a plethora of players in an attempt to replace the departed stars.
Trying to embed so many new players at once hampered Middlesbrough’s form in the early stages of the campaign.
Now, ex-Boro man Ray Parlour has warned Steve Gibson that he cannot sell Hayden Hackney, or any other key players, before the 2024/25 Championship season.
He said: “I hope not as he is a player to follow this coming season. [Parlour asked about selling Hackney].
“Boro showed signs of getting over [Chuba] Akpom leaving towards the end of last season and Hackney is the type of player to step up this season.
“With others as well looking to make an impact, Boro must keep hold of their key players as it’s a tough division this year.”
Middlesbrough stance on selling key players is clear
In Boro’s current team, it is fair to say that the likes of Hackney, Emmanuel Latte Lath and Rav van den Berg are the most important assets.
Said trio form an excellent spine through the heart of Carrick’s team and losing any of them this summer would be a big blow.
However, Middlesbrough have already sent a clear message when it comes to the sale of their top assets.
Boro News understands that Middlesbrough would need a ‘massive’ fee to sell Latte Lath, with a figure of £20m-£25m touted.
This is a large summer for a player of the Ivorian’s quality and it is hard to see any team paying that much for him right now.
As for Van den Berg, Belgian outfit R.S.C. Anderlecht have shown an interest in the centre-back during the current window.
However, Boro’s asking price proved too high for Anderlecht and they have moved on to other targets.
In the wake of said interest, Middlesbrough are set to offer Van den Berg a new contract.
This is a welcome change from previous years when Boro were more than happy to sell big names such as Adama Traore, Ben Gibson and Patrick Bamford.