{"id":619185,"date":"2026-06-03T16:31:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T16:31:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/619185\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T16:31:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T16:31:23","slug":"man-united-perform-u-turn-on-transfer-for-midfielder-dubbed-best-in-the-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/619185\/","title":{"rendered":"Man United perform U-turn on transfer for midfielder dubbed ‘best in the league’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Manchester United have agreed a deal with Atalanta to sign Ederson, but Michael Carrick’s side have also been linked with many other midfielders in recent weeks\"Manchester<\/p>\n

Manchester United manager Michael Carrick (Image: (Lee Parker – CameraSport via Getty Images))<\/p>\n

Manchester United are reportedly no longer actively pursuing a move for Hayden Hackney this summer. There is a growing expectation that Hackney is expected to leave Middlesbrough this summer after the club failed to win promotion to the Premier League<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old can play as a defensive or attacking midfielder, and he has been linked with a move to United, given Michael Carrick is a known admirer of him. However, The Athletic<\/a> say that while United<\/a> like Hackney, he is lower on their list of targets, and a move to Old Trafford<\/a> is not anticipated at present.<\/p>\n

The development comes as Everton ramp up their attempts to sign Hackney, even though they face strong competition for the Sky Bet Championship\u2019s Player of the Season.<\/p>\n

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Brighton & Hove Albion, Tottenham Hotspur, Nottingham Forest, Leeds United and Crystal Palace have all been linked with Hackney.<\/p>\n

Not only was Hackney named Championship Player of the Season after enjoying an excellent campaign, in which he made 39 appearances while contributing five goals and seven assists, but he was also named Boro\u2019s Player of the Season, as they were beaten in the play-off final by Hull City.<\/p>\n

While Everton plan to make a move, The Times<\/a> report Boro are considering the gamble of taking Hackney into the final year of his contract in the hope it would increase their chances of promotion and the \u00a3200million bounty that reaching the Premier League<\/a> would bring.<\/p>\n

Carrick managed Hackney at Middlesbrough and, speaking in 2024, was full of praise for the England under-21 international.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Michael Carrick and Hayden Hackney during their time together at Middlesbrough (Image: Craig Thomas\/News Images)<\/p>\n

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Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.<\/p>\n

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He said: “You couldn\u2019t ask for much more from Hayden. He\u2019s grounded, he\u2019s humble, he\u2019s down to earth and loves to learn. He loves the place and he loves the club as well.<\/p>\n

“To have that, added with the talent he has got, it\u2019s the perfect scenario. I think it just shows his consistency really, over a long period of time. It\u2019s not easy when you\u2019re a younger player, but he\u2019s certainly done that.”<\/p>\n

The now United<\/a> boss also added: “There is a level of talent out there in and around football and sometimes it might not be that different player to player, but levels can be jumped, or not, if your head is not in the right place and you don\u2019t go about your business in the right way and treat your profession with respect.<\/p>\n

“Hayden certainly does that. He\u2019s been exemplary really since I\u2019ve been here and I really enjoy working with him. He\u2019s desperate for more, desperate to learn, and he\u2019s a real credit to his family, to himself and to the club.”<\/p>\n

FOLLOW OUR MAN UNITED FB PAGE! Latest news and analysis via the MEN\u2019s Manchester United Facebook page<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manchester United have agreed a deal with Atalanta to sign Ederson, but Michael Carrick’s side have also been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":619186,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[218,1441,1465,72217,22145,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-619185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-football","tag-manchester-united-fc","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\/619185","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=619185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}