Jakirovic will be in the process of narrowing down his squad to 25
Sergej Jakirovic watches on in Coventry(Image: Molly Darlington/Getty Images)
The summer transfer window is over and Hull City’s first-team squad looks considerably different to what it did just a few months ago when they were promoted from the Championship.
A total of 18 new additions have been made, while a series of players have left the club too, with City having to squeeze their group into a 25-man Premier League squad.
With the group set until the winter transfer window at least, we’ve taken a look at City’s squad depth per position.
Goalkeepers: Konstantinos Tzolakis, Jack Butland, Dillon Phillips
City will be happy with the business they’ve done between the sticks and they now have three senior goalkeepers to move forward with. Tzolakis is the undoubted number one and he’s been exceptional so far this season, with Butland and Phillips deputising.
There had been some talk of bringing in a loan keeper to cover for Butland, but that never materialised.
Right-back: Lewie Coyle, Brooke Norton-Cuffy
Coyle has stiff competition for his right-back spot following the addition of Norton-Cuffy from Genoa. The spot is the club captain’s at the minute and he’s doing his best to keep hold of it, but Norton-Cuffy has come to play.
Sorba Thomas is capable of playing right wing back in City’s current system if needed, too.
Left-back: Ryan Giles, Elliot Stroud, Matt Targett
City have three top quality left-backs here and Jakirovic has a genuine headache on his hands moving forward. Giles and Stroud have started both league games so far, with Stroud further advanced, but Thomas can be expected to take that role moving forward, meaning the Sweden international could be set to put pressure on Giles.
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Centre-back: Charlie Hughes, Semi Ajayi, John Egan, Paddy McNair, Lucas Herrington, Nobel Mendy
City are using three centre-backs at present and they have six centre-backs, which makes a lot of sense. Hughes should be fit enough in a few weeks and Herrington will start plenty as the season progresses, you would think, but at present, dropping Ajayi, Egan or Mendy would feel extremely harsh.
Midfield: Hidemasa Morita, Regan Slater, Jens Hjerto-Dahl, Matt Crooks, Lucas Gourna-Douath, Tim Iroegbunam, Christos Mouzakitis, Darko Gyabi/Kieran Dowell/Oscar Zambrano
If anything, City might have a little too much depth in the middle of the park. Slater has started both Premier League games so far and one spot is his at the minute but the deadline day arrivals of Iroegbunam and Mouzakitis certainly threaten that. Gourna-Douath and Morita impressed at Coventry last weekend, while Hjerto-Dahl is still waiting to make his league debut.
Eliot Matazo is out long-term and will likely be de-registered. But, if there is a spot in the squad available, Jakirovic looks set to choose between Darko Gyabi, Oscar Zambrano and Kieran Dowell, with the latter in theory offering something a little different to his competition.
Wings: Mohamed Belloumi, Joe Gelhardt, Mohamed-Ali Cho, Sorba Thomas
Jakirovic will be happy with his options on the flanks and he can be expected to interchange between them as the season progresses. Ilyas Ansah has been known to play off the left before, too, adding to the manager’s options.
David Akintola and Abdus Omur are still with the group at present, but they can be expected to leave in the coming days.
Strikers: Oli McBurnie, Ilyas Ansah, Robinio Vaz.
McBurnie is the first choice striker at present, there’s no disputing that. But Jakirovic has the option to switch things up off the bench in pursuit of goals. Vaz is one of four players in the squad young enough to be not registered alongside Herrington, Mouzakitis and Hjerto-Dahl.
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