According to Alan Nixon, Nottingham Forest are interested in Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney.
With the Reds on the prowl for more domestic players, Forest figure Ross Wilson went to watch Hackney in action earlier this month.
The England youth international has still seemingly caught the eye despite Boro’s poor form this term, with Saturday’s win against Southampton their first league victory of the 2023/24 campaign.
Forest are one of the teams believed to be interested – and they will have an eye on Boro regardless of whether they sustain their interest in Hackney – with Lewis O’Brien currently on loan at the Riverside.
Nixon believes O’Brien could be used in a potential swap deal between the two teams if the Reds make an approach for Hackney and Michael Carrick’s side are interested in turning O’Brien’s loan into a permanent deal.
With the money they have at their disposal now they are in the Premier League, Steve Cooper’s side would probably be confident of getting a deal over the line for Hackney.
But Boro made the decision to offer him fresh terms back in the summer and the player put pen to paper on an extension in late June, with his deal on Teesside now expiring in 2027.
Now having just under four years left on his current deal, that has put Carrick’s side in a very strong position at the negotiating table and they probably don’t need to cash in on him at this point, with the club raising funds from the sale of Chuba Akpom.
That can only strengthen their negotiating position further and Boro will know Forest will be able to pay big bucks for Hackney in January or next summer (if they stay up), so there’s no chance Carrick’s side will be accepting a low fee for him
Because this extension has put Boro in such a strong negotiating position, they probably don’t need to sell him during the next couple of windows and that’s a big positive for them because he will only improve.
His presence will increase their chances of being successful on the pitch but if they do sell him for a big fee, something they can demand considering his contract situation, that will allow the Teesside outfit to spend quite a bit of money in the transfer market.
Again, that will only increase their chances of success if the money is spent wisely.
At the moment, it would be difficult to see them being able to afford to bring in O’Brien permanently considering he’s reportedly valued at around £10m and that’s a shame because he can be a real game-changer in the Championship.
But with Boro able to offer Hackney in a potential swap deal, a permanent move for the Forest man could become a reality.
These are just some of the reasons why it was an excellent decision from Carrick’s side to get him tied down to a new deal in the summer, as well as others who could be sold for a decent amount of money in the future.
