Super Liverpool midfielder to replace Everton-bound £25m star

Everton are signing Hayden Hackney from Middlesbrough.

The Toffees will pay a fee that could reach £25m for the Championship standout in what looks like a decent deal for the Blue half of Merseyside.

And Hackney’s exit will of course open the door for Boro manager Kim Hellberg to do a deal for a replacement.

Oliver Skipp - now in League One with Leicester - has been named as one such target but Boro are not impressed with the £15m asking price.

Middlesbrough considering Stefan Bajcetic

It leads the promotion contenders on to other targets with one Liverpool midfielder now in contention to replace England under-21 international Hackney.

Stefan Bajcetic, 21, hasn’t played for the Liverpool first team in over two years. The Spain U21 international has been out on loan - to Red Bull Salzburg and Las Palmas - and has also suffered some immense injury difficulties.

But the ex-Celta Vigo youth is closing in on a return - and is set to feature under new head coach Andoni Iraola in preseason.

Big decision awaits Liverpool over Bajcetic

Under contract until 2027 a decision will soon need to be taken over Bajcetic’s future - with a permanent or loan exit now on the cards for this summer.

If he does move on loan expect Bajcetic to sign a new deal - guaranteeing Liverpool a fee in the event he’s sold.

The Leicester Mercury is now claiming that having moved on from Skipp decision-makers at the Riverside Stadium have got Bajcetic in their crosshairs.

Bajcetic set for Liverpool exit

“It is forcing Kim Hellberg's men to consider other options - including Everton's Harrison Armstrong and Liverpool's Stefan Bajcetic,” the report reads.

Bajcetic was an acquisition for the youth and academy sides back in 2020 - going on to make a breakthrough under Jurgen Klopp as a teenager - who called the midfielder "super".

But his career thus far has been hampered by injury - and this summer he will be hoping to leave those woes behind once and for all.

A big decision looms.

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