MIDDLESBROUGH are in talks to sign Manchester City youngster Micah Hamilton as they look to make further progress ahead of the start of the new Championship season.

The Teessiders have expressed an interest in the England Under-20 international, who made his senior debut with Manchester City last season.

A versatile forward player, who can play in a number of different attacking positions, Boro’s recruitment team are understood to be keen to add Hamilton to their ranks in order to provide some additional competition in the wide-attacking role on the right.

Isaiah Jones is set to start the season as Boro’s first-choice forward on the right-hand side, but the continued injury absence of Marcus Forss means youngster Sonny Finch is currently the only real alternative in the role.

Signing Hamilton on a permanent basis would help address that issue, with the 20-year-old having appeared on the right-hand side for Manchester City’s academy teams.

The Manchester-born youngster first joined City’s youth ranks at the age of nine, and was promoted to the club’s Under-21s side ahead of the start of last season, appearing in the early stages of the EFL Trophy.

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He was promoted to Manchester City’s first-team squad for last September’s Carabao Cup game at Newcastle United, and made his senior debut for Pep Guardiola’s side in December’s Champions League group-stage game against Partizan Belgrade.

He made an instant impact in that game, scoring in the 19th minute, and made subsequent senior appearances in an FA Cup win over Huddersfield and a Champions League victory over FC Copenhagen.

An England international at Under-16s and Under-20s level, Hamilton is set to leave the Etihad Stadium this summer, with Boro currently discussing his position.

Talks with the hierarchy at Manchester City are understood to have progressed well, and a medical has been planned for the next couple of days, paving the way for a permanent transfer.