With discussions beginning earlier this month, it appears that Everton's first signing of the summer is set to be confirmed by the club.
According to Everton insider The Bobble and confirmed by Paul Joyce of The Times, Hayden Hackney will join the Toffees from Championship side Middlesbrough, reports that were followed by Fabrizio Romano's famous "Here We Go."
Both of the reports closest to Everton indicate that the fee will be an initial £16.5 million, with the deal including £8 million in add-ons. Joyce goes so far as to say that the breakdown of those clauses are £5 million for apperances and an additional £3 million if he helps Everton secure Champions League.
Hackney, who just turned 24 a few days ago, is coming off a season where he made 41 appearances across all competitions for Boro, 39 of them starts, scoring six times and adding seven assists in helping his side reach the Championship playoff final, where they lost 1-0 to Hull City at Wembly.
Their inclusion in that final, of course, was partially due to the spying scandal centered around Southampton, who ultimatley lost their place.
For his efforts, Hackney won the Championship Player of the Season for the 2025/26 campaign, all while being voted Boro's Supporter's Player of the Season for the second straight year. He was heading into the last year of his contract this year, which might have instigated Boro's interest in selling.
Hackney has been at Boro his entire professional career, and was part of the club's academy as a youngster, save for a loan spell at Scunthorpe in League Two during the 2021/22 season when he was just 19 years old.
The goal scoring has seen a burst over three of his last four seasons, but he's been a fairly consistent player when it comes to being involved in goals outside of bagging them himself, with 14 each of goals and assists during his Championship tenure.
The question will be where Hackney fits into Everton's midfield this coming season. It looks like both Idrissa Gana Gueye and Tim Iroegbunam might be on the way out, along with Charly Alcaraz, leaving Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, James Garner, and Merlin Rohl as David Moyes' options in the center of the park, with Harrison Armstrong waiting in the wings.
That's a reasonable group, although it's still missing a true no.6, something Hackney isn't, or at least won't be at England's highest level.
The question will be in deployment, but the group is versatile, even if it lacks dynamism.
Either way, it's all done but the confirmation from the club, which we'll wait for in the coming days.
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