But Boro aren’t interested in Louie Barry, whose move from Aston Villa to Hull City collapsed last week.
Boro are currently out in Portugal for their pre-season training camp, with Hayden Hackney part of the 27-man squad.
But there’s growing interest in the Teessider from the Premier League and overseas, and Boro are braced for offers for the 23-year-old.
Boro haven’t yet strengthened their squad this summer, but Hansen and Sulc – strongly linked this week – are both understood to be of interest.
Former Ajax youngster Hansen has caught the eye in his homeland over the last two seasons since joining NEC Nijmegen. The 23-year-old winger scored six goals and registered four assists in the Eredivisie last season, turning heads at several Championship clubs.
Burnley failed in a bid to sign Hansen late in the January transfer window after missing out on Morgan Whittaker, who instead joined Boro.
Big-spending Birmingham City were also linked with Hansen earlier this summer, while Wrexham are also said to be keen. Copenhagen are also monitoring matters.
Hansen has two years left to run on his contract with NEC, though it’s not clear at this stage what sort of offer it would take to tempt the Dutch club into doing business.
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Sulc, meanwhile, has now moved into the final year of his contract with Czech club Viktoria Plzen and there’s an expectation that the attacking midfielder will be on the move this summer. But competition is fierce.
Bournemouth, Lazio and clubs in Germany and Turkey are all said to be interested in the 24-year-old, who scored 20 goals and provided 15 assists in 54 appearances in all competitions last term.
Sulc, who is a No.10 but also comfortable playing in a deeper midfield role, won Player of the Year in the Czech top tier last season.
The future of Blackburn right-back Brittain is unclear as things stand, with Rovers so far unable to force a breakthrough in contract talks. The 27-year-old’s current deal expires next summer and a number of clubs are keeping tabs on the situation, with Boro one of those watching closely.
Wrexham and Derby are also said to be interested, with Rams boss John Eustace – previously in charge at Blackburn – keen on a reunion with Brittain.
The right-back is coming off his best season at Ewood Park and Rovers were hopeful of contract breakthrough before now. Brittain has a strong relationship with head coach Valerien Ismael, who he previously played for at Barnsley, but is also aware of interest from elsewhere.
Strengthening at right-back is a top priority at Boro, with Luke Ayling – who is coming off a difficult and injury-disrupted season – the only senior player in that position on Rob Edwards’ books. Josh Dede, who joined from Celtic in January and impressed in his early months on Teesside but hasn’t yet played a senior game for Boro, had surgery on a toe injury earlier this week.
Barry, meanwhile, was set to join Hull City last week in a £3.5m deal only for the move to collapse and the Tigers to be later hit with a transfer embargo. The sanctions related to non-payment of a fee owed to Villa for Barry’s loan move to the MKM Stadium in the second half of last season.
Hull City owner Acun Ilicali wrote an open letter over the weekend claiming there are “zero issues with Aston Villa”, and saying Hull are confident thy will be successful with their appeal.
Barry’s collapsed move led to claims that Boro, who were linked in January, could make a move, with one national pundit suggesting that was possible. But Boro aren’t interested in the 22-year-old.
There is, however, plenty of interest from elsewhere in Hackney, with Everton having now joined the chase for the midfielder, according to Sky Sports, and several clubs weighing up a move.
Brentford, Fulham, Crystal Palace and West Ham are also keen on Hackney, as are Stuttgart and Bayer Leverkusen. Porto, who failed in a bid to sign Hackney in January, also remain interested.
Hackney’s teammate Rav van den Berg is also in demand, with Brentford, Crystal Palace and clubs overseas all interested.
