There’s no doubt that one area of the park that needs to see both short and long-term investment in this Ranger squad is midfield. Steven Gerrard managed to assemble his on a shoestring but he was still able to pick from players with a wide range of attributes, Giovanni van Bronckhorst has had to make do with whoever is fit.
You’d expect both Gers gaffers to be able to spot a talent given the level that they both played the position at, however, there’s a rookie manager down south who you’d also expect to know what it takes to be a success in the engine room – Michael Carrick.
The Middlesbrough boss, since taking charge, has shown his willingness to put his faith in youth if they are good enough and one player who would appear to be exactly that is Hayden Hackney who is currently with the Scotland Under-21 squad despite already being capped for England at youth level.
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ | ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ป๐ฒ๐ – ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ
โช๏ธ20 years old
โช๏ธMiddlesbrough fans favourite
โช๏ธCentral-Midfielder
โช๏ธProgressive passer of the ball
โช๏ธStarted every match under Carrick
โช๏ธ @HackneyHaydenLooks a very talented player ๐๐ฝhttps://t.co/RUoC3rhZK3
โ Everything Scotland ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ (@AboutScotlandd) November 14, 2022
A compilation video – that has unfortunately been taken down by Twitter – of how he plays the game seems to suggest that he is being moulded by his manager into a similar style of player, one capable of breaking lines with passes and dictating the tempo of a game. He is also capable of finding the back of the net.
๐๐๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ผ (and Hayden Hackney) โก๏ธ pic.twitter.com/oGwvsTvT7m
โ The Boro Breakdown Podcast (@Boro_Breakdown) November 11, 2022
The Championship is becoming a harder place to find a bargain, however, with his contract expiring at the end of the season, Hackney is available to discuss a pre-contract agreement and for a similar fee to the one that we paid for Joe Aribo.
It’s a market we have exploited before with Aribo, Calvin Bassey and Charlie McCann and Hackney should be the next.