![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_Michael-Carrick.jpg\")
<\/p>\nManchester United are in the market for several midfielders with a golden transfer opportunity emerging after the Championship play-off final<\/p>\n
Michael Carrick looks to have been handed a Manchester United transfer boost(Image: (Photo by Ash Donelon\/Manchester United via Getty Images))<\/p>\n
Manchester United look to have been handed a major Hayden Hackney transfer boost after Middlesbrough’s Championship play-off final defeat. The 23-year-old has been linked to an Old Trafford<\/a> switch in recent months and the chances of a reunion with Michael Carrick now only look to have increased.<\/p>\n Boro went into the Wembley showpiece as favourites but a stoppage-time Oli McBurnie goal sealed Hull City’s place in the Premier League<\/a> for next season. Hackney played the final 20 minutes after missing the last two months with a calf injury, but he was unable to make a lasting impact.<\/p>\n With Middlesbrough set to remain in the Championship, which will see them miss out on roughly \u00a3200million from promotion, Hackney staying at Riverside Stadium for the 2026\/27 season seems highly unlikely. Leeds United, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest have also been linked to the midfielder.<\/p>\n Get MEN Premium now for just \u00a31 HERE<\/a> \u2013 or get involved in our United WhatsApp group by clicking HERE<\/a>. You can also join our United Facebook page by clicking HERE<\/a> and don’t miss out on our brilliant selection of newsletters HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n Links to Old Trafford have been concrete in recent months with The Athletic stating he is well-liked by United and Carrick. He is also also been considered a player with huge potential for some time.<\/p>\n Carrick will likely be the man leading any pursuit for Hackney having spent nearly three years with him at Middlesbrough. The 44-year-old was sacked from that role last June and started his temporary job with United six months later.<\/p>\n FOLLOW OUR MAN UNITED FB PAGE! Latest news and analysis via the MEN\u2019s Manchester United Facebook page<\/a><\/p>\n A hugely successful interim spell has seen him the club’s become permanent head coach and he is now entering his first full transfer window in charge.<\/p>\n Hackney is one of many midfielders that could join though Boro boss Kim Hellberg admitted earlier this year he is hopeful the club’s captain will stay.<\/a><\/p>\n He told BBC Radio Tees back in January: “He’s very important, of course. He’s a top player and person. In every aspect of the game he’s s good, defensively and offensively.<\/p>\n Hayden Hackney was emotional after Middlesbrough lost to Hull City in the Championship play-off final<\/p>\n “I like him very much and if I had to decide I would say he’s not for sale, but it will not come down to me. I think he wants to stay here. You can see him being very happy with how it works, so hopefully he’s with us this year and further on.”<\/p>\n Brazilian Ederson is another central midfield option with links to the Atalanta star increasing after he missed their Serie A final day clash against Fiorentina due to being in advanced talks to join a top European club, as confirmed by the club’s head coach Raffaele Palladino.<\/a><\/p>\n Elliot Anderson, Adam Wharton, Carlos Baleba and Sandro Tonali are just a few others linked to United.<\/p>\n The latter also has interest from Manchester City<\/a> but reports in Italy have claimed he would prefer a move to Carrick’s side.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manchester United are in the market for several midfielders with a golden transfer opportunity emerging after the Championship…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":600461,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[59,1465,72217,22145,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-600460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-gb","tag-manchester-united-transfer-news","tag-michael-carrick","tag-middlesbrough-fc","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=600460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/600461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Hayden](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_GettyImages-2277850618.jpg\")
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