Tottenham Hotspur are eyeing up a fifth transfer for the summer window already, having already secured agreements for two, and terms for two more.
Spurs have seen Andy Robertson announced as the first signing of the summer on a free transfer from Liverpool, while a deal for Marcos Senesi has been completely agreed on a free transfer from Bournemouth. The club are also pushing hard for deals to sign Savinho from Man City and Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton in big-money deals, having narrowly avoided relegation this season.
Now though, the club are pushing for another transfer after opening talks to seal a deal to bring in a new central midfielder.
Tottenham Open Hayden Hackney Talks
According to Sports Boom, Tottenham have opened formal talks with Middlesbrough over a deal to sign central midfielder Hayden Hackney.
Hackney, who has been compared to Declan Rice, is expected to depart The Riverside Stadium this summer after the club missed out on promotion to the top flight, as he enters the final 12 months of his contract.
Everton have already opened talks about a potential deal for the midfielder, but Boro are understood to be playing hardball as they are happy to keep their captain for another season despite the possibility of losing him for nothing.
But now Spurs have opened talks to hijack the Toffees' move for the 23-year-old, and are hopeful of convincing him that a move to north London is best for his development, rather than going to the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Middlesbrough's exact asking price remains unclear, but it's expected to be in excess of £20m, and Tottenham believe they can gazump Everton to get a deal over the line in the coming weeks.
Hackney Could Be Perfect for Spurs
Tottenham have already got some of the best young central midfielders in the world in their squad, but adding Hackney to their options could only be seen as a positive thing.
Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, Pape Matar Sarr and Hackney all have a tremendous array of attributes, and combined with the qualities and experience of Rodrigo Bentancur, and potentially Joao Palhinha, it would give the team and manager Roberto De Zerbi a perfect blend to choose from.
A deal isn't expected to be too expensive or complicated to secure, and with the club already very active in the market, it's very possible that this could be on the cards in the coming weeks.