Hull City have opened discussions with the EFL over the signing of two players as the club seek answers amid fears of the transfers falling through. City have signed Gustavo Puerta and Reda Laalaoui, with both agreeing long terms deals at the MKM Stadium.
While the deals were announced weeks ago, the transfers were not registered with the EFL as the contracts did not start until July 1. Hull Live has had it confirmed that these deals remain unregistered at present and in effect have not been completed, with neither player officially a Hull City player as it stands.
Puerta’s obligated move from Bayer Leverkusen was concluded over the Easter weekend after his appearance at Swansea City triggered a clause to make his loan deal permanent. City will pay Bayer Leverkusen £3m for the Colombian midfielder, who has signed a three-year contract with an option of a fourth year.
It’s expected the Tigers will pay FUS Rabat around £400,000 for Laalaoui, who has signed a four-year contract at the MKM Stadium, plus the option of a fifth year. But for that to happen both deals need to be registered with the EFL.
City were unable to register the players’ contracts on July 1 owing to the fact they were at the time serving a temporary transfer embargo which halted any transfers into the club. The transfer embargo had been placed on City a day earlier as the EFL sought answers regarding missing transfer payments in the Louie Barry loan deal.
While that transfer embargo was lifted two days later, the fixed punishment for failing to meet payments over a 30-day period mean City are now operating under a transfer fee restriction, meaning the deals cannot be registered due to the payments needed. Given the agreements were made before the embargo was in place, City are seeking clarification but sources have admitted there is a danger the deals could fall through.
While discussions with the EFL over those two players are ongoing, there’s understood to be no such issue with Semi Ajayi or Dillon Phillips’ moves given they were both free transfers and can be registered as such.