"Worth an awful lot more" - Pundit reacts to £10m Hayden Hackney, Middlesbrough FC transfer news | OneFootball

Carlton Palmer has praised Middlesbrough for keeping Hayden Hackney amid interest from FC Porto.

Carlton Palmer has praised Middlesbrough for retaining Hayden Hackney after Porto had made a late move to sign the midfielder.

It was a hectic window for Michael Carrick’s side, with the club making some eye-catching additions, but they also lost top scorer Emmanuel Latte Lath to Atlanta United.

There was talk of another big outgoing, as the influential Hackney was on the radar of Porto, with the Portuguese giants having a £10m offer for the 22-year-old turned down.

Middlesbrough were right to keep hold of Hayden Hackney

It’s unclear what sort of number it would’ve taken for Boro to do business, but Hackney didn’t let the transfer talk distract him as he showed his class in the 3-2 defeat to Sunderland on Monday night as he scored from range with an excellent effort.

Now, with the window shut, all connected to the club will be focused on winning promotion, and ex-England international Palmer told FLW that keeping him was the right choice, as he backed Hackney to take his game up a level in the years to come.

“They don’t want to sell, their priority is getting into the play-offs. He is having another fine season again, so, of course, speculation comes with that.

“He is one of the finest midfielders outside the Premier League, making 27 appearances, scoring five goals. So, Hackney is very integral to Michael Carrick, and what Carrick is trying to achieve.

“He is worth an awful lot more than that (£10m offer). Middlesbrough will value him a lot higher, so it’s good business to keep him at the club, and it’s great news for the fans, because he is an exciting player. You like to see the way he picks up the ball and creates chances, and dribbles with the ball. And, at his age, he is only going to get better.”

Hayden Hackney is key to Middlesbrough’s promotion push

The January window is the same for any club in the promotion race - you don’t want to sell your key players.

Some will say Boro have gone against that with Latte Lath’s exit, although the club clearly felt the money was too good to turn down. Plus, in Tommy Conway and Kelechi Iheanacho, they will be confident they have enough firepower.

In Hackney’s case, the money on offer was nowhere near the sort of fee that would’ve had the Boro board discussing whether a sale was worth it.

When you look at his current ability, and his age, a £10m fee was never going to be enough, especially at this stage of the window.

Middlesbrough.