Middlesbrough had a terrible 2024/25 season, and the summer transfer window hasn’t started off well.
Boro parted ways with Michael Carrick after failing to make the play-offs for the second consecutive season, placing 10th.
Since the window started, the Riverside Stadium has seen only two U21 signings.
With Premier League football escaping the Teessiders for another year, it’s evident that some of their top players may move during the current transfer window.
Exits for two Middlesbrough players have been addressed this week, with one writer describing the ‘huge disappointment’.
Hayden Hackney and Rav van den Berg’s departure from Middlesbrough is mentioned.
We announced earlier this month that Hayden Hackney is changing agents ahead of a possible summer move.
Everton is the most recent club to express interest in the Boro academy product.
Meanwhile, Rav van den Berg is attracting interest from clubs such as Fulham, who sought to recruit the centre-back last summer.
Now, journalist Scott Wilson has spoken about the ‘huge disappointment’ of Hackney and Van den Berg possibly departing Middlesbrough in the coming months.
On the most recent You Are My Boro podcast, he stated: “Clearly, the big disappointment or, as we’re saying, as if they’re definitely out the door, they’re not definitely out the door yet.” The downside is that they will almost probably not spend the finest years of their careers with Boro, which is a huge disappointment, but that is the reality of being a Championship football club, isn’t it?
“Once a person reaches a particular level, you won’t be able to keep them until you’re promoted alongside them.
“Van den Berg will highlight the massive success and the wisdom of Boro’s kind of new transfer policy, their overarching transfer ideal – buy young promise, develop it, sell it on, happened with Morgan Rogers.”
Watching Rogers perform in the Champions League brings a sense of pride. “Clearly, the disappointing thing in all of this, and the inevitable way that Boro have to do it as a Championship club that needs to raise revenue, is you don’t see their best years in a Boro shirt.”
If Van den Berg turns out to be Holland’s next centre-half, which he very well could be in 5-6 years, there’ll be a bit of residual pride in the fact that he started his career with Boro.
Which clubs are looking to sign Rav van den Berg and Hayden Hackney? Unsurprisingly, given their status as two of Middlesbrough’s most promising players, the combination has sparked a lot of attention.
As we reported earlier this year, a move to Germany for Van den Berg has been considered, while Brentford’s interest in the stopper has resurfaced.
In addition to Everton, we learned this week that Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, FC Porto, Bayer Leverkusen, Eintracht Frankfurt, and Atalanta have all expressed interest in the England U21 star.
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