Middlesbrough send clear Hayden Hackney transfer message to Ipswich Town, West Ham & Everton | OneFootball

Middlesbrough have confirmed that they won't be selling in-demand midfielder Hayden Hackney this summer, despite a huge amount of interest in him.

Middlesbrough are reportedly adamant that they will not be selling Hayden Hackney this summer amid interest from Ipswich Town, West Ham and Everton.

Middlesbrough have had an excellent start to their 2025-26 season, with three wins out of three having taken them into the top two in the Championship.

Boro have already lost defender Rav van den Berg to 1FC Koln and striker Josh Coburn to Millwall this summer, and there remains interest in attacking midfielder Finn Azaz from Southampton.

However, reports have confirmed that Boro fans may not have to worry about losing one of the players that they would least have wanted to before the 1 September transfer deadline.

Middlesbrough adamant Hayden Hackney won't be sold this summer

The Northern Echo reports that Middlesbrough are now certain that they will not be selling midfielder Hayden Hackney in this transfer window.

They report that there have been no firm bids for the player since Ipswich tabled what would have been a Championship-record £20m bid, before the player ultimately decided to turn down a move to Portman Road.

The Northern Echo do however state that there is a growing possibility that Hackney could be the subject of a Premier League offer as the transfer clock ticks down, with both West Ham and Everton having been linked with a move for him.

However, it's reported that even if a top-flight bid lands on their desk, senior figures at Boro have outlined that they will do everything in their power to keep hold of their local midfield star.

Middlesbrough are also still looking to be active on the recruitment front in the final week of the transfer window too.

A season-long loan has been agreed with Newcastle United for Matt Targett, with the medical already having been completed, while the Echo also reports that they're close to completing the signing of the Senegalese striker Kaly Sene, who's due to join the club from the Swiss club Lausanne.

But the 23-year-old Hackney, who's been capped numerous times at youth level of international football with England and has already made more than 100 appearances for the club, will not be going anywhere, despite a summer of speculation that he could be set to leave.

Hayden Hackney's premature sale could have been a false economy for Middlesbrough

Born in nearby Redcar and a product of the club's own academy, there will be a feeling of relief around the club that Hayden Hackney is set to stay with Middlesbrough for the coming season.

Hackney hasn't shown many signs of wanting to leave the Riverside Stadium this summer. He rejected a move to Ipswich earlier in the summer, and although they haven't returned to the table with a revised bid, it had been expected that there could be interest in him from Premier League clubs over the final days of the window..

With two years left to run on his contract, there was also no pressing need on the part of the club to sell him immediately.

They will now have the space to let the player concentrate on his football, and it wouldn't be surprising if they sought to tie the player down for longer with a new contract in order to shore up their position.

Middlesbrough's strong start to the season underlines what a false economy selling Hackney might have been.

It is extremely early days, but Rob Edwards' team has had an extremely confident start to the new season, and the financial benefits of winning promotion would vastly out-strip any amount of money that they'd receive for one player.

If Hayden Hackney can play a significant role in getting them back to Premier League, the decision to keep the player will look like an extremely sensible one indeed.