The making of Hayden Hackney, Everton’s new midfield gem: How tough love from his parents and a brutal loan forged a better, grittier player, why Hackney only wanted Everton – and David Moyes’ masterplan for his ‘Swiss Army Knife’

‘He wasn’t arrogant, he just wanted to play in the Premier League.’

Neil Cox is remembering Hayden Hackney, the lad he had on loan at Scunthorpe in League Two in 2021-22. The season was a wretched slog – they won four games in all competitions on a long trudge to relegation – and it was a wake-up call for a silky-footed teenager reared in Middlesbrough’s academy.

‘He stood out in possession, but after two or three games, he realised how hard it was,’ former Scunthorpe boss Cox tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘Travelling on the day of games, not staying in hotels, not getting fed properly, playing Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday. It toughened him up. He did a good job.’

Back then, Middlesbrough were Hackney’s world. Born in nearby Redcar, he lived and breathed Boro, where he had been a season-ticket holder and ballboy. He would go on to be their talisman and captain, inspiring them to last season’s Championship play-off final, which ended with him in tears. Whenever he dreamed of the Premier League, he had pictured himself playing in his hometown red.

He will now make his top-flight bow in Everton blue, almost certainly this weekend against Crystal Palace, after joining in a deal that could reach £24.5million. There is a buzz around Hackney, last year’s Championship player of the season, and that has only been bolstered by some promising pre-season performances.

If he can make the leap to Premier League football with ease, England call-ups could follow. He has pedigree at youth level, having won the Under-21 Euros last summer under Lee Carsley, alongside the likes of Elliot Anderson and Jarell Quansah, who made Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad this summer.

Hackney, 24, spoke with a range of clubs including Manchester United before landing at Everton. Michael Carrick was hugely formative during his time at Middlesbrough, cementing him in the first team and working on his first touch, positioning and ball carrying.

But Hackney opted for the Toffees due to David Moyes’ record of nurturing players from the Championship – think Jarrod Bowen, Tim Cahill and Joleon Lescott – and the prospect of greater influence. 

He is also good friends with Jarrad Branthwaite, his former England youth team-mate who gave him advice before joining, and excited at the prospect of dovetailing with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and James Garner.

His decision to opt for Everton speaks to a maturity which sources say he has always had. Those who know Hackney praise his humility and decision-making.

‘He was a very grounded lad, he wasn’t big-headed or arrogant in any way,’ Paul Freary, his PE teacher at Redcar’s Sacred Heart Catholic Secondary School, tells Daily Mail Sport.

‘All the school teams and everyone in the area knew about him – he was playing for England and well thought-of by Middlesbrough. He didn’t let that go to his head, still got stuck in at school.

‘He knew who his mates are – when he came in last year for a Q&A with the students, he was still mentioning the friends that he had at school, he still knocks around with those lads. Having that sense of realism and keeping grounded has helped him. He’s worked really hard to get where he is now.’

Unlike most talented young athletes, Hackney did not study PE at GCSE level, instead opting for engineering to have a cushion to fall back on lest the football go awry. On a visit back to the school last year, he remembered the staff’s names and went out of his way to ask about them.

The praise is echoed by Cox. Adapting to the physicality of adult football was tough for Hackney, who has called his loan spell at Scunthorpe a ‘life lesson’, but Cox saw an edge in him which suggested a bright future.

‘I had to bring him off one game and he wasn’t happy getting dragged off, he was really disappointed. He needed to work on his defensive work and fitness,’ Cox remembers.

‘He got stuck in, did a bit of extra work, spent more time in the gym. No disrespect to Scunthorpe, he didn’t want to play in League Two, he expected to play at Middlesbrough. That’s what you want to hear from players.’

Hackney’s parents have played a crucial role in his development and keeping him grounded. It was they who drove him to training at Middlesbrough’s Rockliffe Park complex every night after school, eating tea in the car.

They didn’t have much football expertise – his dad’s experience only stretched to casual five-a-side games – but they were committed to his growth as a player. Sources say they push their son hard, not sugar-coating things if he has a poor game.

This formula has developed him into an all-round midfielder. Hackney is comfortable as a No 8, No 10, or No 6, but defending is not his strongest suit. 

What Moyes asks of his new Swiss army knife may depend on how the rest of the transfer window goes. Deep-lying midfielders Christian Norgaard and Garner are injured, so Hackney is likely to start in a holding role against Palace on Saturday.

But many think Everton will get the best out of him if he has freedom to roam. Hackney still has that willowy movement, that ability to glide past defenders carefree, but he has also beefed up to fend off a challenge. Last season, getting into more advanced positions, he posted career-best numbers with five goals and eight assists, and sharpened his sense for when to arrive in the box.

He once named his dream team-mate as N’Golo Kante. That suggests Hackney does not see himself as a defensive workhorse. He recognises that his talents lie in his ball-carrying and defence-splitting passes.

But fitting into Moyes’ masterplan is more about sacrifice than the self, explains Leon Osman, the Everton legend who now co-hosts the football podcast Outside the Box alongside former boxer Tony Bellew.

‘Moyes strips you back,’ Osman tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘He makes you forget about whatever you’re capable of and makes you understand that there’s 11 players out there.

‘You don’t lose confidence in who you are, but he turns players into hard workers and great team-mates. You lose your ego, but your quality still shows through.

‘Understanding lots of different positions, and what’s being asked of your team-mates in them, helps you be better at your own role.

‘It can be frustrating because you want to dominate one position and be a master at it, but if being moved around is what it takes for the team to win, that’s what you’ve got to do.

‘Hayden’s not looked out of place in pre-season. I’m excited about him.’ 

Away from the pitch, Moyes will not have to worry about any ego. Hackney is described as a quiet character and one who does his talking on the pitch. He has bonded well with his new team-mates, taking a trip to the beach in Dundee and playing golf with Branthwaite and Nathan Patterson.

He is also overawed with the reality that he is at such a big club. After experiencing the Hill Dickinson Stadium for the first time in a 1-1 draw against Lille, he struggled to contain his smile.

‘It was unbelievable,’ he said. ‘I can’t wait for a Premier League game – even the atmosphere here in a friendly game was everything I thought it would be.’

That wait is almost over. It has taken Hackney 24 years and the painful decision to move 150 miles from home to get here. He will never lose his love for Boro, or chicken parmo, nor will he shed his North East lilt. But he is a Blue now, and sometimes life’s best decisions are the ones that hurt the most.