RECRUITMENT bosses at Premier League clubs will have been kicking themselves this week when word got out that Micah Hamilton was leaving Manchester City on a permanent deal.

But by that stage it was too late to act and attempt to change the mind of a young player so talented he forced his way into Pep Guardiola's Manchester City first team last season.

After sitting down with Michael Carrick and Kieran Scott, who both set out Boro's vision on and off the pitch, Hamilton was left in no doubt that he wanted the move to the Riverside.

For Boro's delighted recruitment and coaching team, this was a deal they weren't expecting at the start of the summer. Not that they didn't want Hamilton. Serious scouting on the young forward started in September last year, with Boro's team - led by Chris Jones - watching the 20-year-old in person at least a handful of times, as well as closely studying the versatile attacker on Wyscout.

Boro always monitor the top talents in the Under-21 ranks of the leading Premier League clubs and have a list of potential loan targets. But, unless there was a no brainer of an opportunity, the loan market wasn't something that Boro were particularly interested in utilising this summer.

And the truth is, at the start of the summer Boro didn't seriously think a player so highly-rated at City, who has recently featured for the first team, would be available on a permanent deal. And if he was, it surely wouldn't be affordable for a Championship club.

However, Boro then became aware that not only was there a chance of City sanctioning a permanent exit for Hamilton but financially they'd be able to make it work.

And, as has become a common occurrence in recent windows, Boro then successfully managed to keep their negotiations under wraps, therefore not alerting Premier League clubs or rivals of the opportunity to land Hamilton. This wasn't a case of City actively trying to offload Hamilton so there was no need for representatives of the player to get word out. He was immediately keen on the Boro move and when one other Championship club had a sniff, they were instantly knocked back.

The up-front fee is understood to be in the region of £2m and City's buy-back clause is significantly higher than the £11m reported this week.

There will, as would be the case with any 20-year-old, be patience with Hamilton, but Boro's recruitment and coaching team are understood to be extremely excited by the capture of a player deemed to have the potential to become a top Premier League talent.

It's impossible to ignore the comparisons with the signing of Morgan Rogers 12 months ago. Indeed, Hamilton spoke to Rogers this week - the pair know each other from their time together at City - before putting pen to paper on his four-year Boro contract.

"I asked him a few things, not just about the football but the area, my new teammates, the manager and staff and he said he loved it here," revealed Hamilton in his first interview with the club.

The rapid progression of the likes of Rogers, Rav van den Berg, Emmanuel Latte Lath and Hayden Hackney was noted by Hamilton from afar.

"I've seen so many young players come here, do well, some stay and some move on. It's great to see," he says.

"I think the project and ambition of the club is so big, that was a big thing for me."

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Hamilton - who averaged a goal contribution every other game in his first 60 appearances for Manchester City's academy - stepped up and shone on the big stage. Just 19 minutes into his senior City debut, he lashed in a stunning opening goal against Crvena Zvezda in the Champions League last year - which was followed by inclusion in Guardiola's Club World Cup squad.

"What a goal, eh! And what a game," said Pep after that Champions League strike.

"I'm so happy for him. He's training quite often with us, we saw his skills up front 1-vs-1 and he made a fantastic goal and penalty and when he could not be 1-vs-1 he gave extra passes. Defensively he was aggressive."

Hamilton's debut had pundits purring.

Micah Richards took great pride in seeing a player who'd been on City's books since the age of six taking his first team chance.

He said: "I didn’t know whether he could cope at this level but he showed he can cope.

“He’s dangerous, an electric winger, can play left, can play right, can play in the middle as well. He's got pace, got skill and he can finish."

What made that occasion all the more special for Hamilton was the fact a year earlier he'd been injured and needed regular injections for an ankle problem. He's endured some frustrating times as well as enjoying the highs.

And long before his City debut, he was given a glimpse of the intensity of Guardiola.

Hamilton was a 13-year-old ball boy for a Premier League game against Crystal Palace when footage emerged of Guardiola giving the young teenager orders at half-time.

Guardiola later revealed what he'd told Hamilton, saying: "If there was a foul, no-one went to take the ball and start to play.

"There was five, ten seconds before someone goes to take the ball and start to play. When this happens everything is slow.

"So the ball boys were slow, everybody was slow. And we have to create in the game, to provoke the game. And we didn't for most of the time in the first half."

"In the second half, you could see immediately that the team was ready."

Fast forward seven years and Hamilton was ready when introduced from the bench for the second half of a friendly against AC Milan in the United States this summer.

He caught the eye and set-up the equaliser for James McAtee.

Afterwards, former City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips said: “He’s done what people want to see from a young academy product or a sub coming off the bench.

“You want to see him have an impact in the game, play a role, be creative and excite people.

“And that’s what he’s done and it’s exactly the same thing that he did in the Champions League against Red Star Belgrade [when he scored on his debut last December].

“He seems to have that way where that’s just the way he plays. And he will go a very long way in football just because of the way he plays and his tenacity.

“He tries to be creative, but keeps the ball at the right time and his decision making is so good for such a young player.”

Last year, City's former Under-21s boss Brian Barry-Murphy said: "Micah's probably gone under the radar because he's been injured for a long period. We feel he's coming back into good form and feel he's got a lot more movement in him.

"He can get a lot fitter and if you see him at his best he's pretty unique and has distinct parts of his game which are really exciting. I say to him he's a street footballer, you see Oscar Bobb who's very exciting to watch.

"Micah is the same, someone who can eliminate players one by one, no matter how the game evolves, for a player to be able to beat a player one-v-one is one of the most exciting things."

And now, after finalising his Boro switch, Hamilton is ready to kick on.

"This is the season where I want to establish myself and show everyone," he said.

"I can't wait to get going and I think from there things will fall into place."