Acun Ilicali says he will once again back new manager Sergej Jakirovic as Hull City set about strengthening their squad ahead of the new season and admits some of the squad want to leave.
City know they must add to their attacking ranks after finishing the season as the Championship’s lowest scorers in a campaign which saw them only avoid relegation on goal difference.
Ruben Selles has departed with former Dinamo Zagreb boss Jakirovic the man charged with getting City in a position where they can challenge for the top six, and Ilicali says he will work with the new boss to bring in the necessary players.
He’s also confirmed there will be departures. Xavier Simons was the first out of the door last week joining Bolton Wanderers on a permanent deal, and more will follow. Anthony Racioppi, Marvin Mehlem, Steven Alzate, Gustavo Puerta and Ryan Giles could all move on to free up transfer funds.
Central to all of that will be having a connection with the new head coach, where both parties work together to bring in the right blend of players, to fit within the club’s budget and ensure they remain on the right side of strict financial fair play parameters.
“Yes, yes, for sure,” Ilicali said when asked about backing his new manager. “I love Andrew (Balderston), our physiotherapist. He has been in the Championship for 20 years or maybe more.
“He just said to me one day something, and I never forgot it. ‘If you want to have the best management, you and the coach have to be on the same page,’ he said. This is the most important thing. So with Liam, I can say that we’re on the same page. We still call each other very often and share many things together. We were seventh in the league, and I think it was one of the reasons that we were on the same page.
“So again, with the new manager, we should be on the same page. Why? Because I want to help my manager, bringing him the correct players that he wants, but also has to understand the club’s benefits. It’s not one side like the coach wants one player, two players or three players; it’s not like that.
“We have to cooperate about some players, but sometimes, for the sake of the club, some players have to go, and some players have to stay. There are so many details that we have to speak the same language about.
“We will also sell some players,” Ilicali continued. “I can say that there are some players who want to leave, so we will sell these players.”
The return of Liam Millar in pre-season will boost City. Mohamed Belloumi is a couple of weeks behind in his progress, while Eliot Matazo is due back towards the end of the year.
Oliver McBurnie remains a top target, and there will be other attacking players coming in with City keen to bolster their creativity, but wholesale changes are, at this stage, not expected.
“Our star players who are injured, of course, will be with us,” he continued. “We will bring in a good striker, and I can say that the skeleton of the team will stay. Three or four players being sold is normal, and we will bring in some players.
“For sure (we need to add goals). We had João Pedro coming in late (after the summer window closed). He’s a very good player. I love him, but I think we kept him a little alone in this position.
“Kyle (Joseph) is a very young and I think he has a big future, but he was too young to be the number one player in the Championship (given our circumstances), so he needs time, and Joao was alone in the scoring responsibility.
“Without the wingers (we struggled). I will always say that, unfortunately, if you play midfielders as the wingers or the striker as the winger, it will never work, as I see it in the Championship, and it has never worked, from what I understand.
“We have to have two wingers plus two more wingers (coming in this summer). I want to have a team with (at least) four wingers, so when injuries happen, we don’t lose the quality.”
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