Everton remain in talks with Middlesbrough over a deal for Hayden Hackney.
Negotiations have not exactly progressed swimmingly for the Toffees so far, with Everton already seeing two bids – worth £12m and £15m – rejected by the Championship side.
There is also the looming threat of interest from Crystal Palace – who can offer the Middlesbrough No.7 UEFA Europa League football next season.
While some Everton fans might be frustrated at the value of those aforementioned bids, Patrick Boyland of The Athletic has now shared information on Hackney which suggests the Toffees are doing little wrong in negotiations with Middlesbrough.
How would you feel about Hayden Hackney becoming Everton’s first signing? 🤩
Recruitment experts feel £20m Hayden Hackney valuation is “too high”
Middlesbrough want £20m in order to sell the England U21 international, which is quite a substantial request considering the 23-year-old only has 12 months remaining on his contract and could leave for free next summer.
Boyland has now told The Blue Room podcast that recruitment experts feel Everton are bidding in the correct bracket, as they believe Hackney is only worth between £10m and £15m given the circumstances.
The reliable journalist said: “Just an additional point on Hackney, by the way. One of the things I did when I was conducting research on him is I just asked some other people in the game who don’t work at the club – and are in recruitment circles – what kind of valuation you would put on him.
“I put Middlesbrough’s 20 million thing to them, and they all thought that was too high. They were all looking more in that 10 to 15 million pound bracket. So a lot of the early anecdotal evidence is that maybe it’s not Everton who are out of kilter here, it might be Middlesbrough.”
We wouldn’t be too worried about the situation in all honesty.
Hackney wants to join Everton, and incremental bidding is simply the way most clubs do business – besides the immensely wealthy sides who have no problem paying the entire asking price all in one go.
If you were Angus Kinnear who would you be going all out for this summer? 💰
With time, we are confident the Middlesbrough academy graduate will end up at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
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