Despite a last-minute approach, Middlesbrough have stuck to their guns and rejected a bid for their captain.
Premier League club Nottingham Forest have had an approach for Hayden Hackney knocked back by Championship side Middlesbrough, reports Sky Sports.
The Teesiders do not want to sell the midfielder so late in the window, and see the Englishman as a crucial component to their promotion bid under Kim Hellberg.
The Middlesbrough midfielder and star player is a player Forest have been tracking for a while and is one of long-term interest.
Forest have also failed with a £17m move for Celtic’s Arne Engels today, with no further indication over which midfielder they will approach next.
Boro’s Hackney has just 18 months left on his deal at the Riverside, and his future looks set to be decided on whether the club goes up, or stays down this coming summer.
Hackney is set to stay put at the Riverside once again, after rejecting a move to Ipswich last summer, despite Boro accepting an offer worth £20m.
The midfielder clearly felt at the time that his current club had a great chance to go up themselves, and that he wouldn’t need to move elsewhere to play for a Premier League club.
Hackney has only been proven right, with the Boro sat five points clear of third place and in the automatic spots in the Championship with sixteen games remaining.
Sky Sports’ Paul Merson said on the rejected bid: “It’s so difficult to get out of the Championship.
“[Boro] have an unbelievable chance and he’s a huge part of that. He’s a special player – he’s got the X-factor. If he wants to go at the end of the season, then maybe.
“But they cannot, cannot sell him, at any price, before the end of the season.”
Hackney looks set to stay put until, at least, the end of the current campaign.
