Nigel Pearson is the front-runner to become next Middlesbrough manager - but the relegation-threatened club have made a shock move for Guus Hiddink.

The Riverside club sacked beleaguered Aitor Karanka on Thursday following a sorry run of results that has seen them drop into the relegation zone.

A return to Boro for Pearson looked the most likely outcome on Thursday night as the chairman Steve Gibson accelerated the process of finding Karanka's replacement - a process that, in reality, started over a fortnight ago.

Nigel Pearson, most recently of Derby County, is the current frontrunner to take over at Boro

Guus Hiddink has also been contacted over an unlikely return to the Premier League

Aitor Karanka was sacked as Middlesbrough manager with club languishing in bottom three

NEXT MANAGER ODDS Nigel Pearson 5/2 Steve Agnew 6/1 Guus Hiddink 12/1 Steve McClaren 12/1 Jaap Stam 14/1 Alan Pardew 16/1 Claudio Ranieri 20/1 Best odds courtesy of Oddschecker, as of Thursday evening Advertisement

But Sportsmail understands Boro chiefs have sounded out former Chelsea manager Hiddink about a potential return to English football until the end of the season.

There were doubts on Thursday night over whether the job, particularly given Boro's predicament, would appeal to Hiddink.

Nevertheless, former Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon is keen to use his relationship with Hiddink to lure him to Teeside.

Kenyon - now an advisor to Middlesbrough - played a key role in appointing Hiddink in an interim role for Chelsea in 2009.

Hiddink has a good relationship with Boro advisor Peter Kenyon after their time at Chelsea

Pearson played for Middlesbrough for four years at the end of his playing career

If Hiddink does not want the job then the path will be clear for Pearson to rejoin the club he spent four years at from 1994.

Pearson successfully kept Leicester in the Premier League in 2015, an experience that will appeal to the Boro board.

Similarly, if Boro were to be relegated, Pearson has vast experience of managing in the Championship.