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Middlesbrough's 16-month transfer pursuit to sign player who 'keeps stepping up'
THOSE who know Aidan Morris have no doubt whatsoever that the midfielder will make a success of his move to Middlesbrough.
As Anthony Hudson, a former manager of Morris for the USA national team once put it: "He's a young man that just keeps stepping up.
"Whatever challenge is put in front of him, he's always going to step up to it. He's a tough, tough, tough character."
Morris's character impressed Boro coaches and officials as much as his talent and quality on the pitch.
He's supremely confident, which is twinned with a burning desire to get the very best out of himself - and the manner in which he bounced back from an ACL injury three years ago to establish himself as one of the leading lights in the MLS is evidence of his resilience.
Morris is - and always has been - relentless in his efforts to fulfil his potential.
“(I remember) having a game or having practice at like 7 o’clock at night and my dad thinking I didn’t do enough in training,” he said in a previous interview with the Columbus Dispatch.
“He’d take me to the park, and we’d be training until like 9 o’clock and then get home at like 10 or wake up early in the morning and train. There was never an off day.
“It’s just my daily kind of mindset towards everything. I just try to surround myself with people who have similar mindsets to me. We’re always kind of in this like, space, where it’s all just, let’s get work done.”
Boro's work behind the scenes that led to the capture of Morris started more than 16 months ago.
The MLS was identified as a market of opportunities and Morris was quickly picked out as Boro set about pinpointing the young players in the league who were deemed to have a high ceiling.
He was watched extensively by Boro's head of recruitment Chris Jones, who set about building relationships with Columbus Crew and the player's representatives.
On the back of Morris's most impressive season to date and with Boro in the market for a midfielder, this summer was deemed a perfect opportunity to strike. Boro have paid £3m for Morris, a 22-year-old who has already played five times at international level and who Boro believe will continue to get better.
So too does his mentor, fellow midfielder and Columbus Crew captain Darlington Nagbe.
“I think his potential is endless,” Nagbe said in a previous interview with the Columbus Dispatch.
“I told him the other day, I was just thinking about 2020 when he first got into the team. Seeing how much he’s grown as a player and as a person, the sky’s the limit.”
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As a player, there's a lot that appealed to Boro about Morris. He ticks the boxes that head coach Michael Carrick wants from his midfielders.
He's equally as comfortable in and out of possession, can break lines with a pass or driving run, is a fierce competitor, presses with intensity and is a tireless runner.
In the 2023 MLS season, only one player averaged more tackles per game and his pass success rate was 92.5%. That's increased to 93.8% this term. In 16 appearances before his exit for Boro, he created six goals and scored twice.
While Columbus Crew - and the club's fans - were devastated to see Morris go, head coach Wilfied Nancy said they couldn't stand in Morris's way.
“This is a good example of what the club wants to do,” he said.
“We develop young players and help them to get better. After that, see what do we do with the future with them. But this is exactly the mentality that we want. This is exactly why the ownership group invested in this club. And this is the vision.
"It's gonna be a new chapter for him. He knows that, we had a really good discussion about that. He's really motivated and he deserves it.”
Morris said: “I'm always looking to grow and get better and challenge myself. They say when it's time for you to jump, it's when you’ve got to jump.
"I'm very comfortable here, and I love my life here. Things are amazing, but I’ve got to take a leap, step outside my comfort zone, and challenge myself. I feel like, for me, that'll be a good challenge.”
Carrick often talks about the importance of emotional stability in football and always puts emphasis on the next game rather than focusing too specifically on any long-term ambition.
Morris, who loved what he heard from the head coach when they spoke on the phone during transfer negotiations, sings from the same hymn sheet.
“If you just keep a level mentality, where you just keep your highs low and your lows high, it kind of puts you in the middle there," he has said.
“Just wake up every day and try to attack it to the best ability you can. That’s where I’m at. That’s what I try to do every day.
“To be honest, I could play a game, and I could win, and that lasts for like a good five minutes.
“After, it’s like, ‘OK, what’s next?’ There’s another game Wednesday. It doesn’t hold that much pleasure to me. I’m not going to get all happy, happy about it.
“There’s more stuff to do. Winning a championship like we did in 2020, it was awesome, but it’s like, let’s go do it again. That stuff, it doesn’t stick with me a lot, if it does, then I’m probably losing my passion and my drive.”
Strengthening in midfield was a priority for Boro this summer and after the capture of Morris, the Championship promotion hopefuls now have five strong options, including Law McCabe, who enjoyed an impressive breakthrough last term.
Boro's coaches and recruitment team are understood to be excited about the make-up of their midfield department now.
Despite a report claiming otherwise yesterday, Boro - as the Northern Echo have previously reported - won't be pursuing Lewis O'Brien this summer. And Berat Özdemir, a Turkish midfielder playing in Saudi who was linked with a move to the Riverside in his homeland over the weekend, is not a player who has ever been on Boro's radar.
As for Morris, how he previously described his approach to stepping up to become an international player offers an insight into how he'll relish the challenge at Boro.
"You know there’s going to be an extra 5% with everything," he said.
"Extra 5% with tackles, extra 5% with concentration and focus and tenacity for everyone. I’m excited. I love those games. I live for those games."
