Hull City owner Acun Ilicali has admitted he would welcome a new investor into the club to share the financial burden, but has stressed the Tigers remain financially robust and not for sale.
City have spent significant sums on transfer fees and salaries since Ilicali bought the club in January 2022 from the Allam family, with more than £20m spent last summer as debts have risen to a total of £66m as per the most recently filed accounts.
After heavy investment last term, Ilicali admits the club will need to be more frugal in the transfer market this summer which could see some first team players sold to ease the wage bill and also free up funds for the new manager. However, he insists City will still work to a budget that will put them inside the top 10 spenders in the division.
City’s last accounts showed the club were losing around £500,000 per week, and that has understandably worried supporters, but the Turkish businessman believes the finances are not in a dire state, though he admits outside investment would ease the financial burden.
“We have zero problem, and the finances of the club are very good,” the media mogul told Hull Live. “We are not the richest club, maybe I’m not the richest owner, but I’m one of the craziest owners, as I always say. I have the full passion to make this dream team better.
“We have limits. We almost passed our limits. Last year, we were over the limits. We pushed too much. Now we have to go down because it’s calculated over three years.
“So, one year you can go above, but if you cannot succeed (promotion), you have to go down this year. But this down is not a down that fans should fear because this down means our budget is still in the top 10. The squad we have, I believe, is in the top 10. The salaries we pay are in the top eight or top 10. We are a top 10 team, budget-wise.
“When it comes to finances, the club borrows some money, it owes some money, but the team owes the money to me, so I owe it to myself. We don’t owe money to foreign bodies. There are some payments that have to be made to other clubs, which we are paying, and the fans can be comfortable about the finances. In this life, sometimes it happens that my finances can go bad. This is a different scenario, but at the moment we are really OK.”
Ilicali admits funding a Championship club is hard, but says having outside help would ease the burden and make life a little easier for him, and more importantly, the football club.
“Yeah, it’s hard, of course, but when you have the love, it doesn’t hurt you. But to be stronger, if you ask me, I will be happy to have some investors, which is good for this club.
“I don’t say that a one-man scenario is the best scenario. Sharing is better because you have less weight on you, and for the future, the club is safer. If I spend 15 or 16 million pounds from my pocket every year, I’m very glad to spend it because I love this team and I love these people, and I want to be successful, that’s true. But on the other hand, when you share it, it’s going to be more comfortable in the long term.
“Yes (outside help would be welcome), but they should be the correct people. I will not be with somebody or some people where the chemistry is not going to be good.
“Also, I have to be the decision maker. The bus cannot be driven by two guys. That kind of thing can happen, and if it happens, of course, it’s good for the club.”
City’s chief says conversations have been had with potential parties interested in getting involved, though he says there has been nothing yet that has been tempting enough to take further.
“It’s not something on the table at the moment,” he explained. “It can happen. I had some conversations like this, but nothing made me one hundred per cent comfortable, so it’s not something I’m dying for at the moment.”