Published Jun 14, 2026, 8:10 AM GMT+1

Angus is an opinion and features journalist with Football FanCast.

Having graduated from Southampton Solent University with a degree in Sports Journalism in 2022, Angus found a home at FFC after previously writing for Vavel and OurSoundMusic.

A fervent Liverpool supporter, Angus has covered a range of Premier League clubs, from Liverpool and Everton, to the Old Gold of Wolverhampton and the South Coast of Brighton & Hove Albion. Now, he regularly covers Tottenham Hotspur.

Outside of football, Angus is a voracious reader and plays the piano.

In the end, Moyes' first full season back in charge ended in disappointment. It fizzled out, but injuries and imbalances can be put to rights this summer - and it's worth remembering that, under the Scottish coach, Everton have leapt away from unhappy relegation tussles.

If Everton kick on in the Premier League next season, the 2025/26 campaign could be remembered as a crucial phase in the process. But they do have to make progress.

Everton need to sign a couple of full-backs and add a prolific goalscorer to the ranks. An effort will be made to keep Jack Grealish at the Hill Dickinson following this year's loan spell.

However, Everton also need a midfielder.

Who Everton are targeting in midfield

There is a lot for technical director Angus Kinnear to sort out at Everton. Rumours around Iliman Ndiaye have started to bob about, and Jarrad Branthwaite's ongoing injury problems have put a spanner in the works from a defensive standpoint too.

The manager cut a frustrated figure at the end of the campaign, aware that poor end-of-season form cost his side in their bid for European football. He needs leadership and he needs quality, and that could come from the centre of the park.

According to TEAMtalk, Everton are preparing to lodge a third offer for Middlesbrough star Hayden Hackney, having been firmly knocked back so far.

Hackney is valued at £25m, and any number of Premier League sides are lining up. However, it says something about Moyes' project that the Wearsider's preference is to join the Toffees, even with Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur keen.

He would be a brilliant addition, potentially establishing himself as Moyes' next Declan Rice. That said, Boro will let the final year of his contract run down, should a suitable offer fail to arrive.

Why Hackney can be Moyes' next Declan Rice

Hackney is still only 23, but he's worn the armband for Middlesbrough, his boyhood club, and he has established himself as someone who could make a significant difference for a club like Everton.

Moyes is an intelligent manager, and he's not as inflexible a tactician as some would have you believe, but he does need more dynamism and creativity to close the gap on the Premier League's European competitors.

Described as a "pure passer" by analyst Raj Chohan, Hackney was crowned the Championship Player of the Season this year, and given that Boro failed to secure promotion to the Premier League, will surely be headed for higher ground during the next few months.

Hackney is probably more progressive a passer than Rice, but there's no question that Arsenal's all-consuming general is the finest English midfielder of his generation. However, Hackney just needs a chance to shine in the Premeir League, and while he might not have Rice's world-class quality, he certainly boasts the skillset to become Moyes' centrepiece at Everton.

There is a reason so many clubs want him. Hackney boasts the complete package, with his line-breaking passing and combative defending making him the perfect Premier League midfielder.

It feels like something has been missing at Everton this season, and Moyes may be pushing to complete this deal with Rice, his one-time protege, in mind.

Hackney could fulfil a similar role within Everton's set-up, potentially proving the difference-maker for an outfit questing for European football and a new kind of success.

He ticks all the boxes, brings all the flavour that a Moyes system demands. If the chance to sign Hackney emerges over the next few months, Everton have to pounce.