Hayden Hackney looks set to play for Everton next season after Middlesbrough persuaded the Toffees to significantly increase their offer for the midfielder.
Hackney's sale always looked near inevitable once the Teessiders lost the Championship play-off final to Hull City – something they may have avoided had the 24-year-old not picked up an injury in the run-in.
From there on, it was about extracting the biggest fee possible, and Boro appear to have been able to play Everton off against interest from Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace to get a fee of £25m plus add-ons for their homegrown captain.
Everton are thought to have initially bid £12m, then increased their offer to £15m.
DEPARTING: Hayden Hackney of Middlesbrough (Image: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)placeholder image
DEPARTING: Hayden Hackney of Middlesbrough (Image: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Boro accepted a £20m offer from Ipswich Town 12 months ago, only for Hackney to decide he wanted to stay at the Riverside. He went on to win the 2025-26 Championship player of the year award in a season which yielded five goals and six assists.
But Hackney picked up a groin injury in mid-March and his only football from then on was an appearance as a 70th-minute substitute in the play-off final, where he improved the Teessiders, but was unable to stop them falling to a 1-0 defeat.
Boro are expected to spend around £5m on Hull forward Kyle Joseph in a deal which the Tigers will need to complete on Tuesday for financial fair play reasons.