Acun Ilicali will give incoming Hull City boss transfer war chest to sign up to 10 new players
Hull City are progressing in their quest to appoint a new manager to replace Liam Rosenior who was sacked on Tuesday after 18 months in the job. Owner Acun Ilicali is expected to make an appointment in the coming days.
One of the biggest tasks facing the new manager will be adding to his squad over the next few months ahead of the summer transfer window closing on September 2, almost a month into the new season.
Whether it be Tim Walter as it increasingly looks like it will be, or whether it's another manager, the future of Jacob Greaves and Jaden Philogene will be key to his plans, whilst filling the void left by the five loan players who have returned to their parent clubs, along with helping to decide on the future of the vast array of City players out on loan.
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Walter, at this stage, is the frontrunner and is understood to be keen on taking over at the MKM Stadium to launch his career in English football. The 48-year-old has vast experience managing in Germany with two of their biggest clubs in Stuttgart and Hamburg but has been eyeing a move to England for some time. In fact, Walter was at the City Ground last month to watch Nottingham Forest's 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in a bid to foster relationships in England.
City expect to bring in as many as eight to 10 new players over the course of the summer and have no desire to sell either Greaves or Philogene, unless both players make it their express desire to move on. Greaves, in particular, is attracting strong interest from the Premier League with both Everton and West Ham having firm interest, but they are not alone. While Ilicali does not want to sell, there's an acceptance at boardroom level that Greaves has earned his chance to play at the top level, and if a substantial offer comes in, would not stand in his way.
City hold all the aces in that respect, with Greaves still having three years to run on his deal and coming off a campaign which saw him named in the Championship's Team of the Season, as well as collecting a host of club awards. If he is to go, then significant money would come their way which would not only help with FFP but also give the new manager money to reinvest.
The Tigers have built strong relationships with the likes of Man City and Liverpool and will continue to talk to those clubs about potential loan targets this summer, something Rosenior's departure will not impact. City remain in discussions with the Premier League champions over the future of Liam Delap, with it not beyond the realms of possibility the popular 21-year-old will return, though it's extremely unlikely they'd stump up £10m, while the same can be said for Noah Ohio.
Ohio is a player the club rate highly and believe he has significant potential. Although his loan from Standard Liege has now ended, there are discussions ongoing about potentially bringing him back. City's recruitment staff are also compiling a list of potential strikers with Ilicali having given the green light to target free-scoring frontmen. Middlesbrough's signing of Emmanuel Latte-Lath for £4m from Atalanta last summer has given the Tigers encouragement that goalscoring value is out there in the market. The Ivorian bagged 17 goals in his debut season, including seven in April with one coming against City in their 2-2 draw.
Ryan Giles' £4m move from Luton Town is almost certain to be ratified giving City one of the best attacking full-backs in the division with his switch already agreed. Dogukan Sinik is expected to return from Hatayspor and be given a full pre-season at City to get himself fully fit and will be handed an opportunity to impress.
Ilicali's demand for attacking football will see another busy summer of transfer activity, both in and out with that process already well underway.