Acun Ilicali fires Pedro Martins warning as Hull City continue Tim Walter talks

Hull City owner Acun Ilicali remains hopeful of striking a deal to see Tim Walter become the Tigers' new head coach over the course of the next week but has warned fans it's not yet complete.

Ilicali has been locked in talks with the German in the days since Liam Rosenior was sacked, holding meetings over Zoom, as well as in person in Munich and Monaco, and is keen to bring in the attack-minded former Stuttgart and Hamburg head coach.

Despite being close to completing a deal for Walter to take over at the MKM Stadium, Ilicali has tried to calm expectations before the ink on the contract is dry, having been burnt before.

READ MORE: Tim Walter to Hull City latest as Tigers continue talks with ex-Hamburg boss

The Turkish businessman thought he had a deal to see Pedro Martins take over from Shota Arveladze in October 2022 prior to Rosenior's appointment a month later. The Portuguese had verbally agreed terms and was even at the MKM Stadium to see City, under the caretaker stewardship of Andy Dawson, beat Wigan Athletic 2-1, having been at the training ground earlier in the day.

Despite having agreed things with Martins and his agent, the ex-Olympiacos head coach headed back to Portugal with the expectation of collecting some personal things before returning to be unveiled and take training at the club's Cottingham training ground, only to perform a u-turn and move to Al Gharafa in Qatar, and having gone through that experience, Ilicali says he will take nothing for granted.

"One of the things I experienced as an owner - the Portuguese guy, Pedro Martins, we shook hands then somebody confused his mind and he went to Arabia," the City chief told a fans Q&A event. "I think money was the reason at that time. I was happy he didn't come to us because anybody preferring money in his career to go to Arabia at that time and not challenge for the Premier League, I think we are not on the same page from the first minute.

"For me, I will not be disappointed at all. It's a good clue that we are not on the same page. I respect him, he (Martins) can go and work there of course, no disrespect. At our club, we need a fighter and a fighter (Walter) is coming very probably."

Ilicali remains '95 per cent' sure Walter will agree to become City's new head coach in the coming days having already assessed the squad, but remains cautious about going overboard.

"If everything goes good there is a chance - next week is our target, I hope that we will finish," he continued. "Don't think everything is done, if everything goes good like this (we will complete). We have passed many obstacles, some other clubs have interest in him so we talked to him about our plans, he was very satisfied.

"He checked our team and he came to us saying this team has very good players. The loans - he knows which ones will go but the permanent ones are very good, he said, which is very optimistic. With the new recruitment, his mind on football, the recruitment will be done completely based on his approval."

Having fallen out with Rosenior about this season's transfer activity, Ilicali says recruitment will be steered by the club's transfer panel, but with the manager having key input on whether a target is pursued.

"I want to mention something; I will never let any coach make recruitment because I have the full experience of the coaches' recruitment are always problematic," he explained. "You will find the player, the coach will approve and say yes I want him and then you will get him.

"The coaches are so focused on their team that they don't have time to compare some players out of their world. We have a recruitment team of 10 people travelling all around the world, in Europe, and in Africa, they watch a player live five times. How can your coach watch him? Our recruitment team will decide, we will ask the coach 'do you like him', 'yes', then we will finish (the deal)."