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Middlesbrough would love to keep Hayden Hackney at the club this summer, and no doubt there will be discussions to make that a reality. The Redcar-raised midfield star is a boyhood Boro fan

and has made clear that his dream is to earn promotion with the club. Boro will hope to utilise that dream in their discussions to convince Hackney to stay this summer, with the 22-year-old

still having plenty of time on his hands to make a progressive move in the future should Boro fail to meet Hackney’s top-flight ambitions. But, with just two years remaining on his current

deal at the Riverside, Boro will be braced to receive more offers for the Teessider this summer, having turned down two offers from Porto in the January transfer window. There is interest in

the England under-21 international from top Premier League clubs as well as others on the continent like the Portuguese giants. In terms of why so many clubs will be taking interest in the

Boro midfielder despite his only experience to date being in the Championship, it’s really not hard to see why. That’s particularly the case when you consider the success former Blackburn

Rovers midfielder Adam Wharton has enjoyed at Crystal Palace since his move from the second tier. For Hackney, last season may have been his most impressive yet in a Boro shirt, despite the

team’s overall disappointments. Returning after a season of injury frustration, Hackney showcased his talent - so much so that he actually outperformed Europe’s best in one key metric that

will be particularly attractive to many potential suitors. Under the tutelage of Michael Carrick, Hackney has become an ultra-positive central midfielder. He likes to get the ball in deeper

areas and whether it’s carrying the ball or passing it, he generally looks to go forwards rather than sideways or backwards. He’s become a key cog in progressing Boro up the pitch. That’s

highlighted with the fact that Hackney made more progressive passes last season than any other player across Europe’s top leagues. He made 440 forward passes in total, which was considerably

more than the next best in the Championship - Bristol City’s Jason Knight (336). The closest across Europe was Bayern Munich star Joshua Kimmich (362). He ranked highly with successful

passes into the final third of the pitch too. He achieved that 362 times, with only Kimmich (437) and Bayer Leverkusen’s Granit Xhaka (373) achieving more. Of course, a fair argument might

be that Hackney is only performing in England’s second tier as opposed to those we’re comparing him against. However, the Championship’s reputation has really grown in recent years and it’s

widely appreciated that the pace and tempo in the division is up there with Europe’s elite. As well as making Hackney’s numbers all the more impressive, they’re bound to catch the eyes of

scouts far and wide too.