Middlesbrough eyeing up Aston Villa transfer raid after Player of the Year-winning 2024/25 season | OneFootball

After shining at Preston North End last season, Kaine Kesler-Hayden could be on the move to Teesside

Middlesbrough have Aston Villa defender Kaine Kesler-Hayden on their list of transfer targets this summer as they look to bolster the right-back position at the Riverside Stadium.

Boro will need to reset after an underwhelming 2024-25 Championship, which saw them fall short of the play-offs by four points, and it also saw the eventual exit of manager Michael Carrick.

The successor for the ex-England international in the dugout is still yet to be decided, but director of football Kieran Scott will be getting to grips with what the club need in terms of new recruits for the upcoming campaign, with eyes locked on to a player that was a standout for a Championship struggler last season.

Aston Villa's Kaine Kesler-Hayden on Middlesbrough transfer radar

According to the Northern Echo, Middlesbrough are keeping tabs on Aston Villa's Kaine Kesler-Hayden, having had an impressive season on loan at Preston North End in 2024-25.

Whilst the Lilywhites struggled at the back end of the campaign and eventually finished 20th in the standings under Paul Heckingbottom, it was no slight on the overall performances of Kesler-Hayden, who swept the awards for Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year, as well as Young Player of the Year.

Operating at both right and left wing-back for PNE, Kesler-Hayden scored twice and assisted a further three goals for the Lilywhites, and whilst they may have been in a relegation battle come the end of the season, the 22-year-old looked like a player who was going to move on to bigger and better things this summer.

Aston Villa reporter Jacob Tanswell has recently claimed that there is a "mutual feeling" that this summer will be the right time for Kesler-Hayden to seek a new challenge away from the club whose academy he graduated from, and having been out on loan at five different clubs in the early part of his career, it looks as though a permanent transfer may be on the horizon.

Kesler-Hayden was also linked with a move to Coventry City in May, as per Alan Nixon, with the Sky Blues reportedly keen to spend upwards of £5 million on the pacey full-back.

Kaine Kesler-Hayden would be an upgrade on Luke Ayling for Middlesbrough

Whilst Kesler-Hayden won't be cheap for anyone who wants him this summer, he is still in the infancy of his career at the age of 22, but he also possesses plenty of EFL experience already.

He will have learnt an awful lot during his time at PNE last season, but he's clearly ready to take the next step now, and Middlesbrough could be that.

Boro are crying out for a quick right-back to overlap Morgan Whittaker and his cutting-in skills with his left foot, and he'd be sure to offer a lot more on that front than current choice Luke Ayling.

Ayling is still solid enough to a degree, but he isn't getting any younger at the age of 33 (soon to be 34), and a new signing is needed with Anfernee Dijksteel leaving on a free transfer, so a move for Kesler-Hayden would make sense if Boro can fight off the competition.