Former Hull City striker Aaron McClean believes a powerful centre-half and support for Oli McBurnie are absolutely pivotal areas to focus on this summer.
City are preparing for life in the Premier League when they kick off against Manchester United on August 22 at the MKM Stadium, and by then, will have added a flurry of new signings ot Sergej Jakirovic’s squad in a bid to compete in the world’s biggest league.
As it stands, City are set to go into the season with Semi Ajayi, Charlie Hughes, Paddy McNair and John Egan in their ranks, but McClean feels more support is required.
Up front, McBurnie will lead the line and the club are keen to do a deal for Toulouse forward Emersonn, but adding more goals to their squad will also be a crucial task.
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“Defensively, you need a really solid centre-half,” he told BetSelect. “I think we’re good in the full-back areas, and I think that we’ll be able to compete. But I think defensively, one or two really strong centre-halves who are going to be able to handle the quality that you have in the Premier League.
“Last season, I think we had a +4 goal difference. That’s nowhere near good enough once you step up into the Premier League. It’s about scoring goals, and there’s going to be games where you’re going to be under the kosh for long periods of the game. And you need a one-chance, one-goal kind of man.
“Now, don’t get me wrong, they cost the earth, but that’s what you need. Even when you look at when Ipswich were in the Premier League, and they’d gone out, they’d spent money on strikers, and they still couldn’t hang in there. They couldn’t stay in the Premier League because they didn’t have enough firepower.
“I think that’s where you really need to strengthen, right at the back. Make sure you can try to keep the goals conceded to a minimum, but you also need one or two players at the top end of the field who can put the ball in the back of the net and don’t need three, four, or five chances to do so.”
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