Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace both find themselves in difficult situations in terms of recruitment.
Spurs are currently without a manager, which makes it hard for any player to commit themselves to the north Londoners without knowing who’ll be in charge – although Tottenham are close to hiring Thomas Frank as a replacement for Ange Postecoglou.
In regards to the south Londoners, Crystal Palace are awaiting a decision from UEFA on whether they can partake in the Europa League next season, due to concerns over multi-club ownership involving John Textor.
Despite this uncertainty, Crystal Palace and Tottenham are still working to improve their respective squads, with the latter now joining the race to sign Hayden Hackney from Middlesbrough.
Tottenham ‘line up’ Hayden Hackney deal
The Sun now state that Spurs are considering a £20m swoop for the 22-year-old despite not having a manager in place.
Hackney is set to play for the England U21 side at the UEFA European U21 Championship this summer, and it is said that those on the recruitment team at Tottenham are likely to push for his signature if he impresses.
The Middlesbrough No.7 earned his place in the squad under Lee Carsley after scoring five goals and providing three assists in 43 Championship appearances.
Talk of Tottenham being interested comes after TBR Football claimed that Crystal Palace are keen on Hackney, and view the man born in Redcar as an ideal long-term replacement for Will Hughes.
Spurs have been scouting Hayden Hackney for many months
Tottenham have been watching the Middlesbrough academy graduate – who Football Transfers compare to Jordan Henderson – for quite some time now.
TBR Football first revealed back in August that Tottenham were sending scouts to watch Hackney, and he has impressed enough for those same scouts to still be paying attention ahead of the UEFA European U21 Championship this summer.
It remains to be seen whether Frank will support the push to sign Hackney once he is officially appointed, but those already at Tottenham seem to be huge admirers of the energetic central midfielder.