When Championship Player of the Season Hayden Hackney will become a ‘regular’ at Everton as former Toffees striker assesses £24m transfer

North East native Hackney had been a man in demand for several months prior to completing his big-money move to Merseyside. He illuminated the second tier of English football and had been hoping to step up into the top-flight with his boyhood club.

An untimely injury prevented him from making the desired impact in Boro’s 2025-26 promotion push, with a 20-minute cameo appearance off the bench seeing him left in tears at the end of a gut-wrenching play-off final defeat to Hull City at Wembley Stadium.

With Middlesbrough missing out on promotion in the most painful of fashions, Hackney was always going to head out of the Riverside Stadium during the last transfer window. Several clubs had him registering on their respective recruitment radars, with Everton ultimately winning the race for the most sought-after of signatures.

The talented playmaker has been eased into Premier League life, with his only start at that level coming against Crystal Palace on August 22. Six substitute outings have been taken in since then. He did, however, open his Toffees goal account in their 3-1 Carabao Cup victory over Newcastle, as David Moyes’ men secured a quarter-final berth in that competition.

Asked if Hackney’s bit-part role has come as a surprise, given how quickly his stock had risen at Middlesbrough, Beckford - who was speaking in association with FreeBets, home of the best UK betting sites - told GOAL: “Yes and no. Yes, because of what he's been able to achieve last season. The trajectory that he's on is a phenomenal one. He's got so much talent and a huge future ahead of him as long as he stays fit and keeps on learning and keeps on growing.

“But secondly, no, it doesn't surprise me that much because the step up from League One to the Championship to the Premier League is massive. At a club like Everton as well, where there's a specific DNA, you've got to learn and understand what that is first and foremost before you'll be able to just get thrown in the deep end.

“Having worked with the gaffer before, David Moyes, he wants to make sure that you understand the plan first. Whether you're going to play one game, five games or all of the games, he wants you to understand that first and foremost you graft harder than anybody else. You do what we tell you, stay disciplined and then you get the freedom to do what you want to do.

“It wouldn't surprise me if after 10, 12, 15 games we start seeing far more of him and then he starts to become a bit more of a regular. But it's all about understanding the roles and understanding the expectations first.”

Everton acquired another creative influence with bags of potential when prising Tyler Dibling away from Southampton for £42m ($56m) in 2025. He is still waiting on his first goal for the Toffees and made just 17 appearances across his debut campaign for new employers.

Time is still on the tricky winger’s side at 20 years of age, and with more questions being asked of Jack Grealish’s future involvement, but his progress has been somewhat stunted.

Asked about that situation, as Hackney attempts to avoid suffering a similar fate, Beckford added: “He's found it challenging at times. There's an expectation, there's a pressure that comes with representing Everton. It's a humongous club, some great players that have represented the club before us.

“Stunting the growth is a bit of a difficult phrase to agree with. Not that I necessarily disagree with it. I think he's learning on the job and sometimes you have to take a step backwards while you're learning on the job to be able to fully understand it, which is where the progress comes from. I think that's the phase where he's currently at the moment.”

Dibling also started Everton’s cup victory over Newcastle and will be hoping to figure prominently again, with Hackney also pushing for more minutes, when Moyes’ men face the same opponents at St James’ Park in the Premier League on Monday.

The Toffees head into that game sat 14th in the table, with only one point being taken from their last three top-flight fixtures, but would rise as high as seventh with a win - with a fiercely competitive division remaining tightly bunched.