Tottenham have joined Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City in the race for Middlesbrough's Carabao Cup hero Hayden Hackney.

Hackney, 21, scored the only goal in Boro's 1-0 semi-final first-leg win over the Blues on Tuesday night, with the Championship club now just one game from a Wembley final.

The deep-lying playmaker has shone under Michael Carrick this season and was already attracting interest from the Premier League prior to his match-winning display.

The Evening Standard say Boro are braced for offers for their academy graduate but have warned interested clubs they will not be forced into selling him until the summer. 

Hackney is thought to be in no rush to leave the Riverside Stadium as his local side target a play-off push this season.

The England Under-21s international is particularly desired by Spurs, City and Liverpool, who are most at risk of failing to meet UEFA's homegrown player quota.

He has made 22 appearances for the Teessiders this term, thriving in a defensive midfield role, and even captained the side in their FA Cup clash with Aston Villa last Saturday.

In other news

Newcastle are keen on signing Jordan Henderson from Al-Ettifaq — but will face competition from a number of clubs including Bayer Leverkusen and Ajax, according to talkSPORT.

The i say the Magpies will reject any advances from Paris Saint-Germain for midfielder Bruno Guimaraes in January.

Aston Villa midfielder Philippe Coutinho could reunite with Lionel Messi at Inter Miami after a poor spell on loan at Qatari side Al-Duhail, according to The Sun.