Boro have made it clear they won't budge on their valuation of the Teessider and, as revealed by the Northern Echo earlier this week, are willing to keep hold of the 23-year-old, despite his contract status, unless their asking price is met.
Hackney has a year left to run on his deal at the Riverside and a move to Everton is said to be the preference of the former England Under-21 international, who is on the radar of a number of other Premier League clubs, including Manchester United and Crystal Palace.
And while Everton officials have made contact with Boro and held talks, as things stand a breakthrough is not understood to be close.
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Hackney gave what appeared to be a tearful farewell to Boro's supporters after the play-off semi-final defeat at Southampton and again at Wembley following the defeat to Hull City.
Some national reports earlier this week claimed Everton are hoping to strike a deal at around the £10m mark, but that figure has been described as "laughable" by Boro sources.
Boro agreed a deal that was double that figure with Ipswich Town 12 months ago, but Hackney at that stage decided to reject a move to Portman Road and stay at Boro.
While he is now a year closer to the expiry of his contract, the midfielder's stock has risen after he enjoyed what was the best campaign of his career so far and led to him being named the Championship's Player of the Season.
Hackney will also need to be replaced at the Riverside this summer, which won't come cheap and will obviously play into Boro's thinking.
Fulham and Tottenham are two other clubs believed to be monitoring Hackney's situation.
Michael Carrick is also understood to be keen on reuniting with Hackney, who broke through into the Boro first team and flourished under the watch of the former England midfielder. Manchester United will look to further strengthen their midfield after this week agreeing a deal to sign Brazilian Ederson from Atalanta.