Late last week, there were doubts from key figures on all sides of the deal that Hayden Hackney’s move to Everton would happen.Everton had initially sensed an opportunity, with Hackney about to move into the final year of his contract at Middlesbrough, who had narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League in May’s Championship play-off final.Significant groundwork had also revealed that he wanted to come to Hill Dickinson Stadium ahead of other Premier League destinations.Hackney, 24, had spoken to around eight sides, including Crystal Palace and Manchester United, but chose Everton due to their record for developing Championship players and the likelihood of regular minutes. The Athletic’s David Ornstein reported last month that he was lower down Manchester United’s list of targets.The idea was that the process would be managed carefully and there would be no bidding war driving up the price. What many of those involved did not see coming was Boro’s hardline negotiating stance.Last summer, they accepted an initial bid of £12million ($16m), with a further £4m in add-ons, from fellow second-tier club Ipswich Town for Hackney, but the deal fell through. Using that bid as a yardstick and factoring in his contractual situation, Everton initially valued the player between £10m and £12m. This was some way short of Boro’s £25m-£30m valuation, similar to the figure Southampton have placed on another promising midfielder, 22-year-old Shea Charles.The view on Teesside was that widespread Premier League interest should drive up the fee, and that Hackney had improved during a campaign in which he was named Championship Player of the Season. They made it clear they would be prepared to hold onto their star asset if their valuation was not met.Hayden Hackney was the Championship Player of the Season but could not help Middlesbrough win their play-off final (Julian Finney/Getty Images)There were many times, during month-long negotiations mediated by the player’s agency SEG, when the two positions were hard to reconcile. Everton kept upping the ante, but did not seem willing to commit the guaranteed £25m that would move the dial.