"Hanging over him" - Middlesbrough, Millwall, QPR, and West Brom warned about Newcastle United player | OneFootball

Highlights

The Championship clubs keen on Newcastle United midfielder Isaac Hayden - Middlesbrough, Millwall, QPR and West Bromwich Albion - have been served a warning about the 28-year-old's recent fitness issues.

Aaron Stokes from Chronicle Live has suggested that there are question marks over his fitness and whether the knee injury that has plagued him over the past few seasons may have a lasting impact.

With just over a week to go until the end of the summer transfer window, Hayden has emerged as a target for a host of Championship clubs as they look to add some more quality while they still can.

Football Insider has reported that the 28-year-old is a top target for Boro, Millwall, QPR and West Brom despite his struggles while on loan at Norwich City last term.

The midfielder has been frozen out by Eddie Howe, who has made him train away from the first team and transfer-listed him while Stokes has indicated he's one of the players that Newcastle need to move on after a summer of spending.

Hayden appears to have accepted that his race is run at St James' Park as he admitted last summer that despite making "memories that will last a lifetime" in a black and white shirt, he felt it was the right time to "move on".

Having not triggered the performance-based obligation to buy in his Norwich loan deal, he is back at Newcastle but looks set to leave before the September 1st transfer deadline - with the Championship the likely destination.

Isaac Hayden red flag

However, Boro, Millwall, QPR and West Brom have been warned about Hayden's injury issues.

Stokes of Chronicle Live suggested that the Newcastle outcast could be an asset but that his fitness was something of a red flag.

Would Isaac Hayden be a good signing for Championship clubs?

Hayden looked like something of a coup when he joined the Canaries on a season-long loan last summer but he played just 813 minutes of football in 2023/24 - with a knee issue limiting his availability in the early and latter part of the campaign.

He wasn't particularly convincing when he returned for the final few games of last term so it could be something of a risk for those Championship clubs interested.

That said, if they're happy that he's properly recovered and not too much of an injury risk moving forward, the 28-year-old could prove to be a fantastic addition in the second tier.

He may not have shown that at Norwich but he was excellent for Newcastle when they won promotion from the Championship in 2016/17 and prior to the arrival of Howe was regular for them in the Premier League.