Everton Target Middlesbrough's Hayden Hackney Amidst Fierce Competition

Everton are attempting to sign the Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney but face strong competition for the Championship’s player of the season.

David Moyes wants to strengthen in central midfield, as well as at right-back, and has reignited interest in a player he considered 12 months ago.

Hackney, a defensive or attacking midfielder, is expected to leave Middlesbrough this month after their failure to win promotion.

The 23-year-old has one year on his contract and could cost £10m-£15m. Everton have not yet bid for the England Under-21 international but are working on a deal. They could face competition from Brighton, Tottenham, Nottingham Forest, Leeds and managerless Crystal Palace, all of whom monitored Hackney’s impressive form last season.

Hackney inadvertently found himself at the centre of the spying scandal when Southampton spied on a Middlesbrough training session to see whether he might feature in their playoff semi-final. He missed both legs of that tie through injury before returning as a late substitute in Middlesbrough’s playoff final defeat by Hull.