Leeds United transfer swoop for Hayden Hackney would surely spell Elland Road danger for Tanaka
Hayden Hackney has reportedly emerged on Leeds United’s summer transfer wishlist.
According to a report from Alan Nixon via Patreon on Sunday, Leeds are plotting a major deal for Hackney in the summer, with the Middlesbrough star only contracted on Teesside until the summer of 2027.
There is said to be a great admiration for the 23-year-old midfielder within Elland Road, but any deal would depend upon both Leeds staying in the Premier League, and Boro not winning promotion.
However, Nixon’s report claims that the Whites do have the money to meet Middlesbrough’s potential demands, which is widely believed to be in the £30million region.
But, whilst that would be a huge capture for Leeds, there is one Whites player who probably wouldn’t be too keen on seeing the Championship star arriving in West Yorkshire: Ao Tanaka.
Ao Tanaka and Hayden Hackney couldn’t cohabitate in Leeds squad
After joining Leeds in the summer of 2024 from Fortuna Dusseldorf, Tanaka played an integral role in the Whites’ Championship title-winning campaign last season.
The 35-cap Japanese international played 43 times in the second tier in 2024-25, with 37 of those being as part of Daniel Farke’s starting lineup.
Tanaka seldom gave the ball away, scored some brilliant goals, and was undoubtedly one of the signings of the 2024-25 Championship season, and looked set to only keep improving into the Premier League.
However, despite appearing in 20 top flight games for Leeds so far this season, the 27-year-old has only started seven times, with both Ilia Gruev and Sean Longstaff seemingly ahead of him in the pecking order now.
Indeed, Tanaka has been an unused substitute in Leeds’ last three league games, with his last Premier League start coming in the 1-1 draw with Brentford on 14 December 2025.
And so, given the significant fee it will no doubt cost to bring Hackney to Elland Road, he wouldn’t be signing to sit on the bench, and both players operate an almost identical box-to-box profile.
As shown in the above graphic from Sofascore, Hackney is recording an 86 per cent pass success rate in the Championship this season, and has covered every blade of grass for Boro.
Tanaka may have served his purpose as a Leeds player
It goes without saying, but different players are signed for different reasons.
Some are brought into a football club with the vision of being long-term stars and future saleable assets, others to simply provide a short-term, high-impact service.
Tanaka could well be in the latter of those two categories at Leeds, as his drop-off in playing time in the Premier League strongly points towards Elland Road chiefs feeling as though he was only ever meant to help the club reach the top flight.
If so, that would be a huge shame, as Tanaka is undoubtedly a classy midfield player who has proven he’s a level above Championship football, and he surely wouldn’t be short of suitors if he was to be moved on from.
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