How Everton have protected Hayden Hackney as £16.5m payment plan revealed
Hayden Hackney has barely set Everton's transfer budget back at all this summer.
Still Everton's headline signing of the summer so far, Hackney is the only real new face to arrive at Hill Dickinson Stadium in this window.
Indeed, Merlin Rohl and Tyrique George are well-known to Toffees fans, but the midfielder arrives as someone who many Everton fans won't be overly familiar with.
Fresh off the back of winning the Championship Player of the Year award for 2025-26, the 24-year-old is expected to be a shrewd long-term investment by Everton.
His signature was a highly-coveted one too, but sold on the vision moving forward and the chance to carve out a big role from the off, the Redcar-born talent looks primed for a strong debut campaign ahead.
And, the return on Everton's investment may actually be far greater, far sooner, than many had imagined.
How Everton are spreading cost of Hayden Hackney transfer
Goodison News covered reports that Everton were paying an initial fee of £16.5million for Hackney, with add-ons taking the total package closer to £25m.
As a result, it was presumed that the Toffees were paying that £16.5m in full to Middlesbrough this summer, but that's not the case. Far from it, in fact.
Revealed in a report from The Northern Echo, Everton are actually paying that transfer fee in three instalments over the course of the next two years.
That means Boro are only banking £5.5m from Everton, with the remaining £11m being paid out over the following 24 months.
So, the Toffees actually have Hackney in the building for dirt cheap to begin his Hill Dickinson Stadium career, which if he hits the ground running, will see make him one of the bargain buys of the summer in the Premier League.
What this revelation also serves to do is make Hackney's life a whole lot easier during his first few months on Merseyside.
How Everton have wisely and quietly protected Hackney
Making the step up from the Championship to the Premier League can be a big challenge for some players, requiring time and patience before the best versions of themselves are on display.
That may or may not be the case with Hackney, and time will of course tell us that.
Either way, the pressure is now totally off the midfielder to be an instant success, as he's not the sizeable investment right now that it appeared he was.
Had Everton paid that initial fee in full, then Toffees fans will've been more expectant of quick results from their new man.
Now though, he won't feel the same financial weight of investment on his shoulders, and can perhaps play with a bit more freedom and confidence as a result.