Crystal Palace have been forced into a midfield transfer reset after Everton reportedly agreed a deal worth up to £25m for Middlesbrough’s Hayden Hackney.
talkSPORT reports that Everton have reached an agreement with Boro for the 24-year-old, despite interest from Palace, Tottenham and Hull City. The Times adds that the package is structured as £16.5m up front, plus £8m in performance-related add-ons.
The development matters because Hackney had looked a clean stylistic fit for Pierre Sage’s first Palace window. He is Championship-tested, technically secure and able to carry possession through central pressure.
Palace have already been weighing midfield alternatives, with the club’s earlier Hackney interest forming part of a wider search to sharpen the engine room around Adam Wharton, Jefferson Lerma and Cheick Doucoure.
Pierre Sage Must Move Quickly
Missing out would not be a disaster in isolation, but it does tighten the clock.
Sage needs at least one midfielder capable of absorbing Premier League tempo and European workload, particularly with Palace preparing for a busier 2026/27 calendar.
Hackney’s appeal was partly that he sat between categories. He was not a raw punt, but he was not a short-term stop-gap either. That is exactly the kind of profile Palace need to find again quickly.
Read Crystal Palace has already looked at how the Shea Charles race gives Sage a live midfield-market test, and Everton’s move for Hackney makes that search more urgent.
The focus now shifts to whether Palace accelerate another target or revisit a more internal solution, including David Ozoh’s pathway.
Everton appear to have moved decisively. Palace cannot afford to let the next midfield race drift the same way.
