Finn Azaz had a terrific season for Middlesbrough last year, and Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, and Leeds took notice.
Middlesbrough may face a battle to maintain key playmaker Finn Azaz this summer, as Premier League interest in the Irish international rises. The Irish Independent reports that
Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, and recently promoted Leeds United are all interested in signing the 24-year-old ahead of the summer transfer season. It follows a productive season in which he scored 12 goals and recorded 11 assists, making him the only player in the division to achieve double digits in both categories.
Boro will aim to keep Azaz this summer, as the star has three years left on his Riverside contract. Boro’s contract issue puts them in a great position to demand a high sum for a player they paid Aston Villa just over £2 million for 18 months ago.
While Boro prefers to keep its finest players wherever possible, they have been obliged to sell in order to stay inside the PSR barrier and have money to invest on keeping their own squad competitive. This summer, they are expected to be in a great position in that regard following the club-record sale of Emmanuel Latte Lath in January.
Furthermore, they have received bonus payments from the sales of Djed Spence and Morgan Rogers in the last year, and they could profit even more if Aston Villa fails to qualify for the Champions League next season, resulting in Rogers’ departure. Boro has a ‘large’ sell-on clause connected to the transaction.
Boro might make more money this summer by selling Rav van den Berg and/or Hayden Hackney. Again, as a first priority, the club would like to maintain both. However, with only two years remaining on their existing contracts, the club will understand that now may be the best time to sell such valuable assets if new contracts cannot be arranged.
Boro are also working on their own transfer window preparations, with the first of two windows this summer beginning on Sunday.
The amount of action in this first ten-day window remains to be seen, although there are no competitive fixtures for Boro or other Championship clubs during this time, so there is no need to rush. The fact that the majority of players are on vacation at this point in the postseason further complicates matters.
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