Highlights

• Middlesbrough revolutionised recruitment under Kieran Scott, focusing on young, cheap players to sell for profit later.
• Players like Rav van den Berg, Riley McGree, and Emmanuel Latte Lath showcase the success of this strategy.
• Hayden Hackney's rise to stardom has attracted interest from top Premier League clubs, potentially fetching a fee of £20m.

Middlesbrough could receive significant transfer fees should they look to cash in on some of their star players.

For many years, Boro's recruitment team had taken flak from supporters, with calls for an overhaul in the way in which they went about identifying and securing players.

Fans had grown tired of scattergun signings, paying over the odds with little to no return on investments, and seemingly no real philosophy or strategy in place for what the club wanted to be in this department.

That all changed when current head of football Kieran Scott arrived at Rockliffe Park in 2021, as he would be the face of Middlesbrough's new era of recruitment.

Since then, Scott and his team have adopted a clear model of buying young players for relatively cheap fees, with the vision of selling them on for significant profits down the line.

And for the most part, it's worked, as Boro boss Michael Carrick now has a squad that is littered with sellable assets, as the Teessiders look to secure their financial future via their own production line of players.

But what is the estimated value - as per Transfermarkt - of Middlesbrough's five best players? FLW investigates.

5 Rav van den Berg

£2.9m

At just 19 years old, Netherlands youth international Ran Van den Berg is developing into one of the finest pieces of business Middlesbrough have made in recent times.

Prior to his summer switch to Teesside, Van den Berg reportedly had his pick of European giants such as Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan and Juventus to name a few to sign for.

But it was the North East of England that he believed was his best opportunity to develop as a footballer, and the talent levels he's displayed this season have left Boro fans pinching themselves as to how such a coveted prospect chose their club.

Van den Berg appears committed to the project at the Riverside for the foreseeable future too, but should the day come, he looks to pose the potential of becoming Boro's record sale.

4 Riley McGree

£3.2m

Middlesbrough Football Club has strong affiliations with players from Australia, as the likes of Mark Schwarzer and Mark Viduka became legends of the club during Boro's most recent glory days of the mid-2000s.

In recent times, that relationship has been rekindled, as Tom Glover, Samuel Silvera and Riley McGree have all embarked on careers on Teesside in the past few seasons.

McGree has a case for being one of the more underrated attacking midfield players in the Championship, as he possesses silky ability with the ball at his feet, paired with the creative vision to unlock defences whilst also demanding to be accounted for as a goal threat.

But with only 12 months remaining on his contract, McGree could be sizing up potential exit routes should the club decide to go in a different direction.

3 Emmanuel Latte Lath

£3.5m

Great name? Check. Great song? Check. Now Emmanuel Latte Lath has checked the final box, Boro fans had been anxiously waiting to see from their new striker, goals.

The 25-year-old has been finishing the season in red-hot form, as his goals per 90 minutes record of 0.67 is only bettered by a small percentage of Championship strikers this season.

He appears to be the man to fill the goalscoring boots of Chuba Akpom, and thus the former Atalanta forward has nursed the need for Boro to once again be heavily involved in the striker market.

Strikers who know where the back of the net is are always being watched, however, and there won't be too many scouts in the game that haven't been made aware of Latte Lath's exploits.

2 Dael Fry

£4.2m

Middlesbrough's very own towering centre-half, Dael Fry has worked his way through Boro's academy system and made his debut back in the 2015/16 season at just 17.

Now 26, Fry has the feel of a veteran presence in defence, despite still - theoretically speaking - having his prime years ahead of him.

What can be questioned, however, is his fit in Carrick's passing out from the back system. His centre-back partners in Rav van den Berg, Darragh Lenihan, and Matt Clarke respectively, all seem more comfortable being asked to play this way, as opposed to Fry's more traditional central defender skillset.

Therefore, Carrick may well see Fry as a viable selling option, especially when the depth at the position Boro have is factored in.

1 Hayden Hackney

£6m

Another one of Middlesbrough's academy success stories, Hayden Hackney has been a revelation since his breakthrough into the first team during the 2022/23 season.

He's blossomed into one of the classiest central midfield players outside the Premier League, and that form hasn't gone unnoticed among elite top flight clubs.

The England U21 international has drawn reported interest from Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Tottenham ahead of a summer of interest.

Any sale would command a much higher fee than his £6m valuation, however, as those same reports suggest Boro would want a fee in the region of £20m.