Hull City sporting director Jared Dublin says the club are trying to cover every eventuality in the transfer market and hopes to be in a position to confirm new arrivals soon.
City are awaiting the outcome of their appeal on what the remainder of the transfer window looks like, after being slapped with a three-window fee restriction by the EFL earlier this month.
As it stands, the club cannot pay a loan or transfer fee, so are restricted to free transfer arrivals and loans where they do not pay the parent club any money.
Owing to their current plight, the Tigers have already missed out on a number of primary targets including Oli McBurnie and Louie Barry, but signing attacking players remaining top of the agenda whatever comes their way in the next week or so.
It’s hoped the club will have their hearing heard by the end of the month, to give them at least some clarity for the remainder of the transfer window which closes on September 1.
While most clubs have various lists of targets, Dublin says City are no different and have plenty of potential candidates to come in and improve Jakirovic’s squad, irrespective of what eventually comes from their extensive dialogue with the EFL.
“If the question is, ‘What’s Plan B?” I’m saying we’re preparing Plan B, C, D, all the way to Z, to be honest. Of course, that includes players who may leave if the appropriate transfer fee comes in, and if we think it’s appropriate for us to take profits from certain players, we’ll see,” City’s sporting director said.
“We’ve all said, as a senior management staff, as a board, as the owner, the numbers at the top of the pitch are very important for us to improve on last season.
“It’s very clear what Sergej described in terms of the overarching, not issue, but an area we need to improve, being goals and assists and goal creation. This is going to be the focus regardless of the ban situation.”
Sean McLoughlin left for Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, while Alfie Jones could yet be on his way to Middlesbrough. Steven Alzate is also likely to move on, and there are no guarantees yet that Gustavo Puerta and Reda Laalaoui will be registered by the EFL, leaving the squad increasingly light.
That should be remedied this week with a free transfer arrival set to bolster the club’s ranks, but Dublin says it’s important the club doesn’t plunge for anyone just for the sake of it.
“We’re active in the free agent market and in the loan market as well, so we don’t want to wait for the appeal hearing, all the ifs and buts, we want to improve immediately, but we don’t want to rush and take the wrong path,” he added.
“This is very important. So we don’t want to fill the squad with a bunch of players who the gaffer or the club don’t feel are the right ones for us at this moment in time, but I can be fully transparent in the sense that we’re actively engaged with multiple free agent targets. I would say close, but until the scarf is over the head, until the ink is dry, nothing’s close enough for me.”
You can also join our City WhatsApp community and get the latest news from the MKM Stadium straight to your mobile device. Click here to sign up. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.