Fulham are one of a clutch of clubs keen on signing Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney this summer, according to Sky Sports News.

Sky Sports football correspondent Lyall Thomas says Everton are eyeing the England under-21 international as David Moyes had made the signing of a new defensive midfielder a priority during the close season. Thomas names Fulham alongside Brentford, Crystal Palace and West Ham United as Premier League sides who also hold an interest in the 23 year-old, but Hackney has suitors from overseas as well.

Porto are understood to be preparing another approach having seen a £14m bid rejected by Boro in January, while Stuttgart and Bayer Leverkusen have shortlisted Hackney as a top summer target. The Redcar-raised midfielder, who was part of Lee Carsley’s England under-21 squad that retained the European Championship this summer, has scored ten goals in 113 games since making his Middlesbrough debut in a January 2021 FA Cup third round defeat at Brentford.

The ball-playing midfielder, comfortable either as a holding or conventional member of the engine room, captained Middlesbrough last season and has two more years on his Riverside Stadium contract. The Championship side have previously asked for £20m for their outstanding academy graduate and are braced for further offers after Hackney’s performances in Slovakia this summer. He played in four of the six matches, including the semi-final victory over the Netherlands.