Aidan Morris drops potential Middlesbrough transfer hint - Boro faithful will be keeping tabs | OneFootball

The Middlesbrough midfielder dropped a potential transfer hint whilst responding to his Boro teammate's social media post.

Middlesbrough midfielder Aidan Morris may have dropped a potential transfer hint in response to Boro defender Luke Ayling's celebratory social media post following the Teessiders' opening day win v Swansea City.

The Rob Edwards era began with a victory at the Riverside Stadium on a sunny Saturday afternoon on Teesside.

Dael Fry's stooping header from a Morgan Whittaker corner on 51 minutes was enough to hand Middlesbrough all three points against the Swans, in what was an otherwise fairly uneventful game of football.

It means it was an exact repeat of last season's opening day fixture, as Boro defeated the Jacks on home soil courtesy of an Emmanuel Latte Lath penalty to begin their 24/25 season.

Aidan Morris drops possible Max Arfsten transfer hint

Given Boro's opening day victory, numerous Middlesbrough stars took to social media to revel in the winning feeling.

One of those was defender Luke Ayling, who was a surprise inclusion in the starting XI on Saturday, but put in an excellent performance operating as a central defender alongside Dael Fry and Alfie Jones.

Posting to his Instagram account following the win, Ayling simply wrote: "Enjoyable opening day."

However, it was a comment made underneath that post by Aidan Morris that will undoubtedly raise eyebrows among the Middlesbrough faithful.

Boro's 'American boy' responded to Ayling's message by dropping a possible transfer clue, saying: "Super Max soon (soon written in emoji form)," which was accompanied by the side-eye emoji, which is often used to convey the fact somebody knows something that others don't, or to express mystery.

The link to this comment and a potential transfer clue you ask? Well, Middlesbrough have been heavily linked with a move for Columbus Crew left wing-back - and former teammate of Morris' in the MLS - Max Arfsten.

Boro are understood to have seen their opening offer of around £2.25m for the 24-year-old USA international rejected, with the club now seemingly plotting their next move.

The Northern Echo have claimed that Arfsten - Boro's leading transfer target at that position - has made it known to Columbus Crew that he wants the move to Teesside this summer, which would see him reunite with Morris.

Arfsten could be a superb signing for Middlesbrough

Could this be a genuine indication from Morris that Middlesbrough are about to sign Arfsten? Time will tell.

What doesn't appear to be up for debate is the notion that the Columbus star could be an excellent signing for the club, as the USMNT wing-back appears to tick a lot of Boro boxes.

After 20 MLS appearances so far in the 2025 season, Arfsten ranks in the top 100 percentile among MLS left wing-backs for shots (36), shots on target (13) and expected goals (3.79), per FotMob.

He also ranks among the best in his position in MLS for chances created (96.6 percentile), successful dribbles (98.3 percentile), touches in opposition box (98.3 percentile) and duels won (93.2 percentile), per FotMob.

As a result, he's quickly established himself as one of the brightest young talents in US football, and looks to fit the profile that Edwards wants from his wing-backs (high-energy and big contributors in attack) to perfection.

It remains to be seen whether he will indeed be a Middlesbrough player before the 1 September deadline, but Morris may well have just left a huge clue as to what the future holds for Arfsten.