Middlesbrough and Hull City Join Race for £1.7 Million Midfielder
Hull City and Middlesbrough are reportedly considering a move for IF Elfsborg midfielder Michael Baidoo, but are likely to face competition for the 25-year-old’s signature.
According to reports from Swedish news outlet Fotboll Direkt, Middlesbrough and Hull are among several clubs who “want to buy” Baidoo. However, Luton Town and European clubs including Maccabi Haifa, Ludogorets, Ferencvaros and NEC Nijmegen are also monitoring the midfielder.
In addition, any interested teams would have to pay Elfsborg’s value of the Ghanaian youth player. As per Football Direkt, the Swedish outfit has set an asking price between €2-4 million (£1.7 million – £3.4 million).
Several clubs were also interested in moving for Baidoo in the winter window. The midfielder reportedly had suitors from England, Belgium and the Netherlands in January and interest has risen again ahead of the summer transfer market.
Currently, Baidoo is contracted to Elfsborg until 2025, per Transfermarkt, and is mid-way through the Allsvenskan season in Sweden. The Ghanian has scored three goals and made two assists this season for Elfsborg and has 28 goal contributions in his three seasons at the Borås Arena.
Baidoo made the step into European football in July 2017, when he joined Danish side Midtjylland from Vision FC. After three seasons in Denmark, the Ghanain moved to Norwegian outfit Jerv before joining Elfsborg in 2022.
In addition, the 25-year-old has represented the Ghana National team at several youth levels. He made one appearance for the under-17s and played three matches for the Black Stars at the under-20 Africa Cup of Nations in 2019, as recorded by Transfermarkt.
Writer’s View
Baidoo could be in demand this summer and Middlesbrough and Hull are likely to face firm competition for the Ghanain’s signature. However, the box-to-box midfielder would suit either side and offer a genuine goalscoring and creative threat from midfield that both sides would value.
Boro would likely sign Baidoo to add a more dynamic element to Michael Carrick’s midfield. The 25-year-old would also be likely to provide competition for the midfield duo of Hayden Hackney and Jonny Howson. For Hull, a signing like Baidoo would fit the club’s recent approach of targetting young, forward-thinking players, such as Abdülkadir Ömür and Jaden Philogene.
