There may well yet be late business involving the Tigers in the final days of the window
David Akintola celebrates scoring the winner over Sheffield United(Image: Zach Forster/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
David Akintola is likely to be one of the late exits from Hull City in the final hours of the winter transfer window, after the winger was omitted from Saturday’s squad at Blackburn Rovers.
The Nigerian winger, who carved out a wonderful assist for Liam Millar in the win at Preston North End last month, is attracting interest from Turkey and a return to the Super Lig could happen.
Akintola’s future has been up in the air for a significant amount of time and there’s a growing expectation that he will move on in the next few days.
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Though the deadline in England is 7pm on Monday night, the window doesn’t close in Turkey until Friday, and therefore the club have more time to get a potential deal done.
City boss Sergej Jakirovic wants Akintola to stay and is keen to keep him around the squad, but he can’t be assured of regular football following the arrival of Lewis Koumas and Kieran Dowell.
Akintola has made 20 appearances this season after joining in the summer, but with the arrivals of Kieran Dowell and Lewis Koumas in the final days of the window his chances of playing regularly have diminished. He was restricted to just five starts after joining in the summer from Super Lig side Caykur Rizespor.
A popular character in the dressing room, the 30-year-old will be remembered for that marauding assist at Deepdale, and his winner against Sheffield United, along with a smart assist for Joe Gelhardt’s opener at Bristol City, though the Tigers were beaten at Ashton Gate earlier in the campaign. He also netted the winning penalty in the shoot-out success over Rovers to send City through in the FA Cup and set up the meeting with Chelsea later this month.
Despite Joel Ndala not featuring in the matchday squad at Ewood Park, there are no plans at this stage for his loan from Manchester City to be cut short. Boss Sergej Jakirovic can only name five loan players in a matchday squad, and Ndala, along with new arrival Toby Collyer, missed out on a game which saw the Tigers claim a hugely significant 1-0 win courtesy of Lewis Koumas’ late strike.
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