Everton Transfer Rumors: Targeting Hayden Hackney and West Ham Players

Everton’s summer has not yet caught fire in the transfer market, but the rumours are already running at full tilt – and many of the arrows keep pointing towards relegated West Ham United.

The window officially creaks open today. Everton, still to announce a single incoming deal, are deep in talks and deeper in speculation.

Hackney the priority

At the top of their list sits Hayden Hackney. The Middlesbrough midfielder, crowned Championship Player of the Season, is understood to be keen on a move to Goodison Park. Everton want him. He wants Everton. The only argument is over the size of the cheque it will take to pull him away from his boyhood club.

That pursuit shapes everything else. If Hackney arrives, the balance of Sean Dyche’s midfield shifts, and so too does the need – or lack of it – for a veteran anchor.

Which brings the focus back to West Ham.

Old ties, familiar targets

Whenever Everton and West Ham share a transfer window, David Moyes’ name is never far away. His history in both dugouts and his eye for a certain type of player make the Hammers’ squad a natural hunting ground for the Blues.

Last summer, Moyes was said to have tried to bring Tomas Soucek to Merseyside. The Czech midfielder, all legs, lungs and late runs, would have added power and experience to Dyche’s options. Whether that interest is revived now depends heavily on how far Everton push for Hackney. One midfield reshuffle is likely. Two would be bold.

Right-back remains a priority position, but not every rumour has legs. Aaron Wan-Bissaka has been repeatedly linked, yet as reported last month, Everton were not actively pursuing him at that stage. The need is clear; the fit, less so.

A different threat on the left

On the left flank, the picture is more nuanced. Vitalii Mykolenko, fresh from signing a new three-year deal, offers reliability and defensive security. Everton know what they get from him: solid positioning, discipline, few frills.

Linked with them is El Hadji Malick Diouf, an attacking left-back who would bring a very different profile. Where Mykolenko holds the line, Diouf would push it. For a side that often struggles to stretch opponents, that contrast has obvious appeal.

Then comes the name that will light up any recruitment meeting: Jarrod Bowen. Moyes would love to work with his former forward again. So would half of the Premier League. The West Ham captain is the kind of all-action wide attacker Everton lack – goals, work-rate, leadership. He will not be short of offers, and any move would demand a fee and wages that test Everton’s financial reality.

Crysencio Summerville falls into a similar category of ambition. Quick, direct and dangerous from wide areas, he has already sharpened his reputation with a well-taken goal for Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands in their World Cup opener against Japan on Sunday night. He would inject pace and unpredictability into Everton’s flanks, but again, he is a player many clubs are watching.

Striker search under constraints

Up front, the conversation is more cautious. Everton are open to exploring the striker market, yet fully aware of its brutal economics. Proven centre-forwards cost money they may not have and attract competition they may not win.

Still, they cannot ignore opportunities. A report in The Guardian at the weekend linked them with Taty Castellanos. The 27-year-old Argentina international only joined West Ham from Lazio in January and could not prevent their slide into the Championship, but seven goals in 22 appearances is a respectable return in a struggling side. If the numbers stack up and the price dips into Everton’s range, he becomes a live option.

West Ham’s stance: no fire sale

For weeks, there has been an assumption that West Ham, bruised by relegation, would be forced into a fire sale. Big names out, parachute payments in, rebuild from the rubble.

Daniel Kretinsky has other ideas.

On Saturday, it emerged that the Czech billionaire had agreed a deal with the family of the late David Gold to buy some of their shares, a move that would increase his stake in the club to 43 per cent. With that, the narrative changed.

Speaking to The Times, Kretinsky set out a clear position: West Ham do not need to sell. Not for financial reasons. Not as a matter of survival.

“We have a very credible strategy. We don’t need to sell the players for financial reasons. We are doing this to make sure we are promoted back to the Premier League immediately. That is our only goal.

“Key players are waiting for us. They want to see there is a real chance of keeping the squad together. What matters is funding, strategy and consistency.

“We have spoken to all of them. They need to see that our project is real and serious. Promotion is our only goal.”

Those words land heavily at Goodison. Every Everton enquiry, every exploratory call about a Bowen, a Summerville-type profile or a Castellanos, runs into the same wall: West Ham want promotion at the first attempt and intend to keep their core together to do it.

For Dyche and Everton’s recruitment team, the message is stark. The bargains they hoped might fall out of the London Stadium after relegation may never hit the market. If they want quality from West Ham, they will have to pay full price and win the player’s conviction that their project is stronger.

The window has only just opened. The rumours will keep coming. The question now is whether Everton can turn this swirl of West Ham links and Hackney negotiations into something concrete – or whether another summer of “almost” and “nearly” will leave them chasing the same gaps once the season starts.