Middlesbrough chief Kieran Scott thinks this key Boro duo could one day have interest from Premier League clubs.
Middlesbrough often have players who catch the eye of the Premier League, with Morgan Rogers the latest example.
He impressed in just half-a-season at the Riverside; enough to earn himself a £16million move to Aston Villa after joining from Manchester City for just £1million last summer.
It was good business from Boro but Michael Carrick‘s side failed to replace him in the final hours of the winter transfer window, with Middlesbrough now looking weakened in their race for a play-off place.
And in the summer, Middlesbrough could have some more big profile departures.
Kieran Scott predicts Hayden Hackney and Rav van den Berg interest
Speaking on a recent episode of Twe12thman Podcast, Middlesbrough’s head of football Scott had this to say on impressive Boro midfielder Hayden Hackney:
“You talk about ambition and wanting to get to the Premier League, you can’t be losing players like Hayden. He’s one we want to keep, he’s a Redcar boy, a local boy, he loves the club and wants to stay. I can’t be naive, if he continues to develop at the rate and outgrows us, it’s inevitable clubs will come.”
And Scott also predicted the same situation with summer signing Rav van den Berg, adding:
“I think we could have the same with Rav. They are two players who we need to catch up at times because we don’t want to see them disappear.”
Middlesbrough need to find balance in being a selling club
As ever for teams in the Championship, it’s a balancing act.
On the one hand, money is often tight, and so clubs need to operate as selling clubs in that they find players for cheap and sell big, like with Rogers, or promote them from the academy and then sell big, like what could happen with Hackney.
But for teams like Middlesbrough who obviously have huge Premier League ambitions, there needs to be a balance between selling and making profit, and keeping their best players as they vie for promotion.
Middlesbrough are falling short right now but with a couple of new signings, they could become dark horses in the race for top six.
That push might have to wait for next season with the transfer window now closed. But say, in the summer, Middlesbrough sell van den Berg and Hackney and go and sign a new striker, then the squad may become unbalanced and Boro are in the same position as right now.
It’s a tough one for owner Steve Gibson to try and balance. But having valuable assets like Hackney and van den Berg is a huge testament to the club and also its academy; though like Scott says, future interest in the pair may be inevitable.
Up next for Middlesbrough is a home game vs Bristol City this weekend.