Everton FC correspondent Joe Thomas examines the impact a deal for Hayden Hackney would have on a midfield in a state of flux
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Hayden Hackney looks set to sign for Everton from Middlesbrough
Hayden Hackney looks set to sign for Everton from Middlesbrough
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Hayden Hackney could become Everton’s first new arrival of the summer in the coming days.
After weeks of talks, a breakthrough at the weekend led to the Blues reaching an agreement with Middlesbrough and the deal is now through to the technicalities, with both clubs expecting it to progress.
The signing of the 24-year-old, the reigning Championship player of the year, would provide an early boost to David Moyes’ squad and inject some positivity into the discourse around the club at the start of a significant summer.
It will have other consequences, too, though. The big question is what does this mean for Everton’s midfield? It is not unfair to say Moyes has a squad loaded with central midfielders who would all quite like to play in the role of a number eight, the position Hackney may be best suited to - initially at least. So what happens now?
A good place to start this exploration is that the Blues identified central midfield as an area to strengthen before the summer. While the team was big on numbers in the middle, it has been clear throughout the season that it is an area that was exposed too often, through too many different ways.
The most obvious was when games got physical. The likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United simply over-powered Everton at Hill Dickinson Stadium last year and again, in the run-in, a jaded James Garner was too often left with too much to do, particularly after Idrissa Gueye’s season-ending injury.
It was an engine room for the Blues but there were few games you could say they controlled from the middle. This is a unit that operates best when it can sit deep and cut off passing lanes and throw bodies in front of shots and crosses before looking to pounce on the counter - as we saw in big wins at places like Old Trafford and Villa Park.
When there was an expectation for Everton to be more attacking, things often got ragged - the game that sticks out in my mind was the West Ham United match at home, where vast chasms of space opened out as the Blues sought to attack with a defence that, without the pace of Jarrad Branthwaite, sought to sit deep. The result was a lot of menacing runs into space from Crysencio Summerville.
Not all of that was down to the midfield - the caution of the centre-back pairing without Branthwaite (and with Moyes opting to use Jake O’Brien out wide) made their work tough while the injury to Jack Grealish cost Everton their most effective outlet and their most intelligent player, one who could help even a disjointed team get up the pitch regularly through his ability to buy free-kicks.
Branthwaite is looking promising for pre-season and there is still potential for Grealish to return, so the conditions are likely to improve for the midfield next season. The addition of a proper right-back (still a priority) would also make the team more coherent.
I don’t think Hackney is necessarily a solution to all of this, however. He has played across the No.6 and No.8 roles for Middlesbrough and one of his strengths is in carrying the ball - useful for those bursts forward after Everton steal the ball 30 yards from their own goal.
I think the Blues still need a powerhouse in the middle, a disciplined, physical presence - and I think they are in the market for that player, one who can free up the likes of Garner, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Co to play around and ahead of them.
For me, the most obvious way to read this move from Everton's perspective is that Hackney is viewed as an improvement on what they have already got.
A dilemma for Tim Iroegbunam
That begs the question - should the Hackney deal get over the line, what does it mean for his new team-mates? The player who could be set to lose out most is Tim Iroegbunam.
That might sound strange given the prominence he enjoyed at the end of last season, when he emerged as Moyes’ ‘go-to’ central midfielder in the absence of Gueye.
Iroegbunam had a good season, all-in-all. He had a nightmare in that home defeat to Newcastle but fought back valiantly with that big display in the win at Bournemouth. From there, he grew into a competent option for Moyes who was at his best in big games against Arsenal (home and away) and in that frenetic home draw with Manchester City.
He falls into an interesting category now in that he remains raw and yet had a good enough season to both attract interest and be justified should he expect plenty of opportunities.
Everton rebuffed an enquiry over Iroegbunam from Lazio in January and he has been the subject of interest this summer already. Ipswich Town were tracking him towars the end of last season and Hull City have considered him as an option as they seek to build for the Premier League.
Next season is a big one for Iroegbunam’s development and those around him are aware that, should Hackney arrive, it will likely hamper his own ambitions.
With one season left on his contract, the Blues also need to decide whether to tie him down or take advantage of the reputation that he enhanced last season. Should a club offer serious interest this summer, they are likely to pay attention.
What is the plan for Harrison Armstrong?
The other major question mark surrounds Harrison Armstrong. There are competing views on how he was handled last season. One interpretation would be that Moyes was a reluctant fan, that he allowed him to leave on loan when he may have been worth having at Finch Farm and that, after recalling him and initially playing him out of position, he then opted against using him during the run-in.
The alternative is that Moyes is a true supporter who believed a top-end Championship loan would better serve the youngster and then trusted him to support the first team while senior players returned to fitness in late winter.
The idea of him leaving would be anathema to supporters - who doesn’t love a talented player coming through the academy and bursting into the first team? Armstrong looks like the real deal and competition could be a good thing for him next season. While it might limit some opportunities it would also offer a degree of protection - talent around him could place him under less pressure when he is used, allowing him more time to grow in a supportive environment.
But it would be natural for the England youth international to wonder what the pursuit of Hackney means for him and his pathway into the first team, particularly given how little we saw of him at the end of the season (when we did see him, at Spurs, he helped change the dynamic of that game).
There is interest in Armstrong - there has been pretty much since Sean Dyche introduced him to the first team - and there will be plenty of clubs looking on to see what this means for the midfielder.
My hope and expectation would be that the club, the minute Hackney is signed off, would do everything in their power to make Armstrong understand that there is a plan for him to buy into and what it looks like.
Moving on from the reliance on Idrissa Gueye
With Merlin Rohl’s loan having been made permanent and with him showing positive signs at the end of last season, and Moyes clearly liking his versatility, he looks set to continue to grow into life at Everton next season.
The same is true of Dewsbury-Hall, who quickly became indispensable and a real talisman for the team after his arrival from Chelsea. I would love for him to sit deeper rather than play higher up, as Moyes did for most of last season, but his influence further up the pitch was impressive.
Without diving into Carlos Alcaraz, who typically plays higher up (and whose future is in doubt given his struggle for chances last year) that leaves Garner and Gueye. The former was exceptional last season, enjoying a breakout campaign. Thomas Tuchel’s decision to leave him at home looks even worse given the issues England have had in the middle and at right-back but that will at least leave him fresh for Everton.
Garner is central to Moyes’ plans and could potentially become his defensive midfielder. He will be at the heart of the midfield next season so long as the Blues can ward off any interest, should the midfield manoeuvres of the likes of Manchester United lead them to him.
The final unresolved issue is that of Gueye, whose contract has now expired. His focus is on the World Cup, where he remains with Senegal, and his wife’s social media post about packing boxes did little to ease any speculation surrounding his future. We have been in this position before - it took until this time last summer for his last extension to be agreed and his return from PSG also became a protracted affair.
Everton missed him at the end of the season but, whatever happens next, at best there is no doubt Moyes wants to reduce his reliance on the veteran, who will turn 37 in September. That might be a difficult sell to Gueye, should the Blues want to pitch it.
*A version of this article first appeared in the ECHO's weekly Royal Blue newsletter, available here