I'm really not worried about Hayden Hackney leaving Middlesbrough - Here is why | OneFootball

Hayden Hackney may well be heading for the Riverside exit door this summer - I think Middlesbrough have a plan up their sleeves.

Middlesbrough star Hayden Hackney looks set to depart the Riverside Stadium this summer, as clubs from the Premier League and across European football are queuing up to sign Boro's talented young midfielder.

Manchester United, Tottenham and Liverpool have long been linked with the 22-year-old, whilst Newcastle United, Porto and Stuttgart have also entered the race in more recent times.

Quite rightly so too, as the central midfielder has firmly established himself as one of the EFL's most exciting young talents in 2024/25, even if there are elements of his game such as tackling and being more sensible when it comes to giving away cheap fouls, that require improvement if he is to become a top-class box-to-box midfielder.

However, there is considerably more good in his game than bad, and as such, should he flee the Teesside nest this summer, there will be many a young Boro fan - and the odd adult too, no doubt - who will require tears to be wiped away from their eyes and be told that everything will be ok.

Well, I'm here to tell all you Smoggies everywhere that if/when that day comes this summer, it will in fact be exactly that, and here's why...

Law McCabe is ready for his very own Hayden Hackney-esque Riverside breakthrough in 2025/26

When then-caretaker manager Leo Percovich handed Hackney his big Middlesbrough breakthrough during the intervening games between Chris Wilder's sacking and Michael Carrick's appointment in October 2022, he was a relative unknown quantity among Boro fans.

Don't get me wrong, his name was familiar to many Teessiders given the fact he'd been with the club since Under-10 level, and had made three first-team appearances across the 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons, but then he dropped off the radar slightly.

He joined then-League Two side Scunthorpe United for the 2021/22 season, but his zero goals and two assists in 31 total appearances for the Iron that year didn't really echo back to those on Teesside.

As a result, it seemed like he was going to be another youngster who wouldn't quite make the grade at his boyhood club, but from the moment Percovich handed him a surprise start in a 1-0 home win over Birmingham City on 5 October 2022, it was clear that to everyone that Boro had something pretty special on their hands.

The rest, they say, is history. But history can and does repeat itself, and I believe there's a very good chance that's going to happen with another highly exciting young central midfielder on Boro's books next season: Law McCabe.

He's been described by many Middlesbrough fans as a 'Hackney regen', and from somebody who's watched the 19-year-old play on numerous occasions, both for the first-team and at youth level, I can say that description is pretty spot on.

Whether it's physical traits such as his height, build and hairstyle, or whether it's the way he glides across the pitch, confidently and aggressively carries the ball down the field, or his ability to pick a pass and create goals, the amount of similarities between the two are almost frightening.

Like Hackney, McCabe is also a Boro lad. However, he would join the club's academy at Under-9 level.

McCabe is clearly a player that Middlesbrough hold in very high regard - he's ready to follow in Hackney's footsteps

Having signed a new long-term contract with Middlesbrough last summer off the back of winning Boro's Scholar of the Year award for 2023/24, the teenager is clearly a talent that the club hold in the highest regard.

As is the case with Hackney, McCabe is also an England youth international, and I just get the feeling that the time spent training alongside him and under the coaching of Carrick, Middlesbrough have quietly been refining another homegrown midfield diamond.

McCabe made two appearances for the first-team in 2024/25, first against Stoke City in the EFL Cup in late August, and secondly in the FA Cup against Blackburn in early January.

In my opinion, he was one of just a few Middlesbrough players who came away from that 5-0 drubbing against the Potters with their heads held high.

As for the 1-0 defeat to Blackburn, in which he played 76 minutes before being replaced by none other than Hackney himself, I thought McCabe was one of, if not the best player on the pitch in a red and white shirt in what was an otherwise forgettable afternoon at the Riverside.

Going back to the 2023/24 season, McCabe actually made three Championship appearances for Boro, and again, I thought he looked excellent in those displays - particularly on the final day of that season at home to Watford.

In fact, in those three appearances, he registered a pass completion percentage of 89.2 per cent, a long ball accuracy of 80 per cent, completed 58.2 passes per 90 minutes, and won 100 per cent of his tackles - per FotMob.

So, whilst a Hayden Hackney transfer exit would be a blow to Boro, I really feel that 2025/26 is going to be the season where we really see McCabe emerge out of the shadows of academy football and fringe first-team action, to truly announce his arrival as the heir apparent to Hackney in the heart of midfield.

As such, I send you fellow Smoggies this message: do not fear the Hackney goodbye. Instead, look forward to saying hello to the future, and the future is here, and his name is Law McCabe.