LDU Quito president Isaac Álvarez says he still expects Oscar Zambrano to join Hull City on a permanent deal this summer after his loan deal expired.
Questions were raised last week when City announced their retained list, and it was confirmed his loan spell had ended, but that was a normal process given the club needed to negotiate a permanent agreement with the Ecuadorian club as part of the loan agreement.
Zambrano was due to spend last season on loan at the MKM Stadium but played just five times before he was slapped with a 16-month ban for a doping offence committed at Quito.
That ban has since been reduced to 12 months, and he’ll be able to return to first team football from November 3 with City still keen to strike a deal for a player they rate highly.
Álvarez has reiterated his expectation that the 21-year-old will not return to the club and instead will make a permanent move to East Yorkshire this summer.
“His status has not changed. Several people who saw a statement from Hull City have stated that he no longer belongs to that team, but that is not the case,” he said on Cobertura radio.
“What Hull City clearly expressed is that, for players whose contracts are due to end in June, the clause we have between clubs establishes that they have priority and will have to execute it this month, with the opportunity to do so even until the end of May.
“The technical secretariat and the sporting director, Eduardo (Álvarez), expressed it: we are not going to count on Óscar, that’s the truth, we can’t. Basically, Hull City is going to renew him. There will be some things we can improve or that perhaps will be good for both of us, but he is getting closer to returning to the pitch and Hull City wants him.”