Championship club Middlesbrough are trying to push through a deal to sign Hull City striker Kyle Joseph in the next 48 hours, in a move that would help the Tigers’ battle to fall on the right side of Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
Boro, who were beaten by City in the Championship play-off final at Wembley last month, have been keen admirers of Joseph and have lodged a bid with the Tigers. Discussions between the two clubs have been ongoing for a period of time, and now a breakthrough has been made.
The Teesside club have moved to bolster their attacking ranks and are keen to give Kim Hellberg the players needed to go one better than their play-off defeat at the hands of Sergej Jakirovic’s heroes.
City are reluctant to part ways with Joseph, but the offer is thought to be significant enough to tempt them into selling a player who played a key role in helping the club win promotion to the Premier League. It’s understood the bid, which is on the cusp of being agreed, is worth around £5m, Hull Live understands.
Joseph’s likely departure is an unfortunate consequence of City’s need to sell players before June 30 in a bid to avoid being hit with a punishment by the Premier League for breaching FFP.
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The newly-promoted Tigers stand to bank more than £200m for promotion, but because the three-year rolling period is coming to an end next week, they have been pressed into action.
Joseph arrived in a £2.5m deal from Blackpool in January last year, but the Tigers expect to receive around double that for a player who netted eight times on the way to Sergej Jakirovic’s men winning promotion at the expense of Boro.
In his 65 appearances for City, the 24-year-old scored a total of eight goals with five assists, with his last coming in the win over Sheffield Wednesday back in March. Sadly, the popular Joseph missed the Wembley final after sustaining an ankle injury in the semi-final win at Millwall, though he celebrated on the pitch on crutches.
The departure of the hard-working frontman is likely to spark a flurry of activity in the coming days, with Kasey Palmer, David Akintola and Abu Kamara all the subject of firm interest. Ivor Pandur is wanted by Rangers, and that’s a deal that could yet be completed.
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