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Hayden Hackney## The former Middlesbrough midfielder made his first appearance for his new club this week
Stuart Jamieson Football Content Editor and Chris Beesley
13:44, 29 Jul 2026
Hayden Hackney of Everton
Hayden Hackney in action for Everton at Stoke(Image: Matt West/Shutterstock)
Hayden Hackney has explained a key motivating factor in his decision to join Everton this summer, after his £16.5m move from Middlesbrough.
Boro were resigned to seeing the England U21 midfielder leave once they missed out on promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs, with the 24-year-old opting to move to the blue half of Merseyside despite plenty of clubs being interested in his signature.
He made his debut for a his new side in a 1-0 defeat against Stoke City on Tuesday, with the Toffees treading carefully has he returns from a lengthy injury.
Hackney has already set ambitious goal targets for the coming season, which will be his first in the Premier League, and revealed it was the chance to work with Everton boss David Moyes which helped make his mind up over which club to join.
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Hackney told the out sister title the Liverpool Echo: “The gaffer’s record of bringing in players from the Championship and turning them into Premier League stars was part of the attraction for me. He’s done that in the past so hopefully I can do the same.
“The supporters are unbelievable. I’ve heard lots about them so I can’t wait to get into Hill Dickinson Stadium and hear them.
"I want to get double figures joined together hopefully for goals and assists. That’s what I aim for, so we’ll see how that goes.
“I think I’m capable of slotting straight in. Obviously, I want to start games, and I think I can affect games.”
Hackney started alongside Harrison Armstrong and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in the Everton midfield against Stoke and can't wait for more action
“I was delighted to get out there. I loved it," he added. “It’s been a long time coming. The first couple of weeks have just been training, but it was nice to get out there.
“I think getting some tidy touches early on helped to settle me down. Obviously, I’ve been training with the lads regularly now and it's just about building that understanding and tonight I could do that.
“It was just a precaution from the manager to take me off after 45 minutes, I think that was planned, obviously I haven’t played now since March, so it was nice to get out there again.
“I enjoyed playing alongside Harrison, he’s a good player. I thought we linked up well at times and with Ki (Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall) as well, so we can hopefully build on that.
“The lads have been brilliant with me. I’ll be honest, they’ve made it so easy.
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“Just training with them every day, that breaks the ice a lot. The senior lads especially have been great with me, so it’s been simple.”
Middlesbrough FC
Hayden Hackney