Middlesbrough boss ponders Leeds United debut for £5m Manchester City academy star
Leeds United welcome Middlesbrough to Elland Road on Wednesday.
Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick could hand a debut to exciting new signing Micah Hamilton when his side face Leeds United in the Carabao Cup first round on Wednesday.
Hamilton put pen to paper on a four-year deal at the Riverside Stadium last week after a £5million deal was agreed between Middlesbrough and Manchester City. The Championship club will reportedly pay an initial £2m for the 20-year-old while also conceding to a 25 per cent sell-on clause and buy-back option, but such is the admiration that a deal was wrapped up relatively quickly.
The City academy graduate was an unused substitute during Boro’s 1-0 win over Swansea City on Saturday and will be in the squad again come Wednesday, when his side go to Elland Road. Carrick has urged patience regarding his promising young forward but suggested he could play a part in the opening round of the cup.
“We’re absolutely delighted to get Micah in,” Carrick told The Northern Echo after Saturday’s win. “We’ll certainly be patient with him because he’s still young and this is his first move. He’s been at Man City since he was six, so it’s a big change for him and we understand that.
"We’re really delighted to get him. He’s a terrific lad with a really nice family. He’s down to earth and obviously talented. We’ll look after him and get the best out of him. We’ll have to see [if he can feature against Leeds]. He’s literally only trained once with us.
“He went away with City this summer to the USA and I know what their tours are like. There’s a lot of travelling and it’s difficult to train as much. We’ll manage him carefully to get him up to speed and we’ll make a call on Leeds closer to the time.”
The quick turnaround gives Hamilton just a few days to prove his fitness but the youngster’s involvement in pre-season training at City suggests he is fit and ready, whether it be from the start or off the bench. Carrick might also be keen to make some changes in a bid to avoid overworking some of Saturday’s starters so early in the campaign.
Both sides might feel a little unfortunate to be handed such a tough first round draw, given teams from League Two and League One are also involved from the start. Although Leeds might prefer a more equal opponent, having added Salford City to the growing list of lower league teams to knock them out in the second round of last season’s Carabao Cup.
Whether Hamilton features at Elland Road or not come Wednesday, the England youth international will hope to have a positive impact on Boro’s promotion hopes with Carrick’s side among the early favourites to go up. They will expect to be challenging Leeds for a top-two spot come May.