Likened to a young Declan Rice and taught almost everything he knows by Michael Carrick, Hayden Hackney to West Ham United just feels right.
With the Championship Player of the Year award now taking pride of place upon his Middlesbrough-based mantelpiece, reports say the Hammers hope to bring Hackney to the London Stadium this summer [talkSPORT].
A transfer that, if it became reality, would see arguably the best midfielder outside of the Premier League follow in the footsteps of his old Riverside boss, while seizing the opportunity to show that comparisons with former West Ham United captain Declan Rice were justified.
Name a better Mateus Fernandes replacement than Hayden Hackney… 💭
Realistic signings only! We'd all love Bernardo Silva 😂
Middlesbrough’s Hayden Hackney may be a West Ham United target
Chris Dunlavy, a reporter for the Football League Paper, watched on in awe as Hackney strolled through a 2-1 victory away at Sheffield United in February. One of the finest performances in a season full of stand-out displays.
The 23-year-old was, according to Dunlavy, ‘running the show with the swagger and ease of a seasoned veteran. It was a performance that brought to mind the all-round excellence of Declan Rice’.
Rice developed into a ‘world-class’ all-rounder before that record-breaking £105 million move to Arsenal. Hackney, like the Hammers’ current midfield marvel Mateus Fernandes, is another boasting a skillset broader than the Thames.
As EFL expert Ali Maxwell said on the Not the Top 20 podcast before this season – Hackney’s finest in a Middlesbrough shirt – he is a ‘phenomenal ball-progressor’, but one who has made considerable strides regarding his attacking output and his physical qualities.
Hackney, reportedly valued at £30 million, is not the Championship’s 2025/26 Player of the Year for nothing. Five goals and seven assists is his best return to date.
Yet, Hackney also tops the charts at Middlesbrough when it comes to key passes and assists, while entering the top three for tackles per game, fouls won, dribbles completed, and shots per game.
Michael Carrick was a huge fan of Hackney at the Riverside
It is no surprise that Carrick, one of the most decorated central midfielders of his generation, took such a liking to the Redcar-born England Under-21 international.
“You couldn’t ask for much more from Hayden,” Carrick, who made his professional breakthrough at West Ham before conquering the continent with Manchester United, told the Northern Echo during his time in charge at the Riverside.
“[Hackney] is grounded, he’s humble, he’s down to earth and loves to learn. To have that, added with the talent he has got, it’s the perfect scenario.”
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Middlesbrough want £30m…
Hackney honed his talents during a fine loan spell at Scunthorpe United in 2021/22. Carrick, speaking to the Gazette Live, was reminded of his own formative days on loan at Swindon Town.
There are similarities between mentor and pupil both in terms of their footballing qualities, and also their sporting upbringings.
“I went to Swindon [from] West Ham. We were Premier League whereas Swindon were bottom of the Championship. I went there and it was tough,” the 2008 Champions League winner recalled. “I played games and I enjoyed it, but it was tough and a different kind of world from what I was used to.
“I then came back to West Ham and kicked on, and Hayden’s at Scunthorpe was very similar.”
That is not the only thing Hackney has in common with his former boss. In fact, the only real question mark is where he is at his most effective? An elite deep-lying controller, a la Carrick in his Old Trafford heyday? Hackney certainly has the intelligence and vision, but a midfielder with his attacking qualities would arguably be wasted so further back.
Then again, as Declan Rice showed and Mateus Fernandes is currently demonstrating, there is still place for an all-action everyman in a game of specialists.
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