Football finance expert Kieran Maguire says he and his colleagues in the industry had been picking up whispers of cash flow problems at Hull City for weeks ahead of the club being hit with a transfer embargo. The Price of Football podcaster, author and lecturer says the news of a transfer embargo and subsequent punishment by the EFL for failure to meet payments in a 30-day period, underline what he had suspected that the cash flow situation is not as good as it should be.
Maguire was speaking in the wake of the Tigers being handed a transfer fee restriction punishment by the RFL for non payments, which leaves the club unable to sign any players in this transfer window for a fee or loan players with a fee attached. That punishment will stand for the next three transfer windows, with City currently going through the process of appealing the punishment in the hope of getting it reduced.
Speaking to the BBC about the whole situation, Maguire said: “It is fair to say there have been stories circulating the last few weeks that Hull City had some cash flow challenges. Now, there wasn’t sufficient evidence to confirm those allegations and that’s why myself and others chose not to say anything, but the sources we’ve heard from are fairly reliable, there just wasn’t sufficient evidence.
“I think this is confirming the impression that Hull City’s cash flow situation wasn’t as good as it an be. The owner has put a lot of money into the club, but as always with cash, having cash on the right day of the right amount can be a challenge no matter how wealthy you are..”
While City are only allowed to bring in free transfers or players on loan without a loan fee, Maguire believes the situation is not as bad as some may have initially feared and says any sort of comparison to what is going on at Sheffield Wednesday is inaccurate as the Owls remain under a transfer embargo for several reasons, including failure to pay their players.
He added: “It’s clearly not ideal, but it’s not disastrous. It is fair to say that Sheffield Wednesday are closer to administration than Hull City are.
“This appears to be one set of financial commitments the club couldn’t make, whereas there has been a more systematic issue at Sheffield Wednesday. Wages have been late three times in the last four months and some players have not been paid their May wages. We are not in that position as far as Hull City are concerned, but it is not perfect.”