Crystal Palace and Norwich City tracked a new £3 million star before Middlesbrough’s transfer.

Crystal Palace and Norwich City tracked a new £3 million star before Middlesbrough’s transfer.

Middlesbrough head of football Kieran Scott has revealed two of his recruitment team tracked Aidan Morris at other clubs before their swoop. Middlesbrough were a busy club in the summer transfer window, backing manager Michael Carrick with a decent budget in the bid to push back towards the Championship promotion picture.

A host of eye-catching signings were made, but one who has arguably caught the eye the most of the lot is American midfielder Aidan Morris.

Signing from Columbus Crew for a reported £3.1m, the 22-year-old has adjusted to life in the Championship

brilliantly. He looks to be the answer to the question of who will be Hayden Hackney’s long-term midfield partner and has quickly become a favourite on Teesside. While the MLS is a league rarely viewed as a good market to recruit from on these shores,

it seems Middlesbrough weren’t the only ones with eyes on Morris. Speaking to Teesside Live, Boro’s head of football Kieran Scott has revealed head of recruitment Chris Jones and scout Tom Reeves were ‘tracking’ the midfielder before they arrived at the Riverside. Both had looked at the new star while with Crystal Palace and Norwich City respectively.

“He first came onto my radar when Chris joined the club about two years ago now,” the key Middlesbrough figure said. “He had been tracking him for Palace.

“When we brought in Tom Reeves, he’d also been tracking him as part of his remit doing the MLS for Norwich. It sort of all tied together. I took a look and it was unanimous, ‘yeah, we really like him’. “We’re going back to before Michael [Carrick] even joined the club. There’ll be some players the lads watch for a little time, but he was one where Chris was just like straight away, ‘Kieran, have a look’.”

Held in high regard

While Crystal Palace and Norwich City had eyes on Morris before his Middlesbrough switch, it would not be a surprise if further sides were keeping a track of his progress in America. It’s Boro who got the deal done though, and they look to have made a real coup.

One of the telltale signs of a great player is someone who can star at a lower level and have his abilities translate upon a move up. The Championship is on another level when it comes to intensity when compared to the MLS, but Morris has continued to operate with a composure that almost borderlines on arrogance – he’s that confident in his ability.

That is by no means a bad thing at all. At only 22 as well, he has plenty of developing ahead of him, and being led by a former standout midfielder in Carrick will only help that.

Looking forward

Middlesbrough will be hoping the standout duo of Morris and Hackney can help inspire an upturn in form with consistency lacking for Boro this season.

They were prevented from making it three straight wins before the international break, losing to Watford after triumphs over Stoke City and West Brom. A home tie against Bristol City awaits Carrick and Boro. The Robins have had a challenging start to the season, so the hosts will view this is as a good chance to pick up a third win in four.

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