Hull City are close to appointing Sergej Jakirovic as their new manager following the club’s Championship survival.
The Tigers parted company with former manager Ruben Selles earlier this month after the club finished in 21st place in the Championship table and avoided relegation on goal difference. Since then, Hull have been searching for a new boss and have identified Jakirovic as Selles’ successor.
Hull Live understands that Jakirovic is in talks to become the new manager at the MKM Stadium, having been identified by owner Acun Ilicali as the ideal candidate to bring success back to the club. Reports in Turkey say Jakirovic has “agreed in principle” to become the club’s next boss. Our colleagues at BBC Humberside state “plans are in place to get the required work visa for Jakirovic and his coaching staff next Wednesday” following the conclusion of Kayserispor’s season.
So what more do we know about Jakirovic, who could become the next manager of Hull City?
Jakirovic is 48 years old and is currently the manager of Super Lig club Kayserispor in Turkey. Jakirovic, who has joint citizenship with Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, was appointed as the manager of Kayserispor in January, having previously been in charge of Dinamo Zagreb.
Kayserispor appointed Jakirovic with the club in danger of being relegated from the Super Lig. His guidance has since led the club to 12th place in the overall standings in the Turkish top flight and are now safe from relegation with one match left to play.
Jakirovic began his coaching career in 2017 with Sevsete in Croatia, a club he enjoyed two separate spells with as a player. During his playing career, he also earned five caps for Bosnia-Herzegovina.
After a year in charge of Sevsete, Jakirovic would go on to have spells as manager at Gorica in Croatia and Maribor in Slovenia. He would eventually return to Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2020 where he would take charge of Zrinjski Mostar and enjoy a successful spell.
It was here where Jakirovic guided Zrinjski Mostar to the Champions League qualifying rounds, before returning to Croatia as the new manager of Rijeka in 2022. Nine months later he would take charge of Dinamo Zagreb, one of the biggest clubs in Croatia.
During the 2023/24 season, Jakirovic guided Zagreb to the last-16 stage of the Conference League, winning five of his 10 matches in charge in the competition that year and would go on to guide the club to qualification to the Champions League. He went on to win 41 of his total 60 matches in charge of the club before leaving in September last year.
Jakirovic’s final match in charge of Zagreb was a 9-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League league phase in September. Four months later, he was appointed as manager of Kayserispor, and now looks set to take on his first managerial job in England with Hull.