Hull City

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Hull City owner Acun Ilicali has provided another update on the club's transfer plans days before their Premier League return.

Speaking to BBC Radio Humberside, Ilicali confirmed a deal to sign Real Betis winger Pablo Garcia is close.

"Yes, the process is going good," he said.

"I think probably, if nothing unknown happens, we will see him in a black and gold shirt. It has to be finalised but I would say 90% of this deal is done. We are talking about the last details."

A picture of Deportivo La Coruna winger Yeremay Hernandez in Hull has been doing the rounds on social media, and Ilicali offered an insight into the potential deal.

"We have to get the club side done and Yeremay also wants to come but it is a very vital, critical decision for himself," he added.

"This deal is a very hard deal but we are somewhere where it looks positive. He is young boy and it would change his life completely so he wanted to see where he would come. We will see in three, four days if this deal will be done or not. If it happens it will be a record for sure."

On the club's business as a whole, Ilicali said: "60% is done, 40% to go. We are at such a critical moment in the transfer history of the club. Any mistake can be vital. We will not rush."

Listen to the full chat below or on BBC Sounds

Last season: Championship play-off winners.

This season: 20th.

The Tigers are back in the top tier after nine years away and they have embarked on some hefty squad renewal to help manager Sergej Jakirovic.

Will it be enough? It will certainly defy the odds and expectations, but I feel it might just be a very entertaining ride as Hull City try.

They have completed 11 new signings so far and have broken their own transfer record twice in the process by bringing in Greece goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis from Olympiacos and Senegal defender Nobel Mendy from Rayo Vallecano.

Once again, no one can accuse Hull City of accepting what many regard as inevitable.

And why should they?

• Read more of Phil's predictions

Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

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Teams in the bottom half of the Premier League in 2025-26 finished with more points than they had in years, meaning that judging them simply by their position in the table is perhaps a little harsh.

Everton may have been underwhelmed with their 13th-place finish but it was the most points a team in that position had finished with since the Toffees themselves in 1999-2000.

The points of the four places below them were all the highest they have been in the Premier League for 23 years and West Ham can consider themselves unlucky to have gone down with the highest points total for an 18th-placed side since 2010-11.

However, competition has come at a cost.

One place where the Premier League has become less competitive - because it has become more fiercely-contested overall - is at the very bottom.

While it is almost expected for one side to be cut adrift long before the end of the season, nowadays two sides are getting left behind.

The average points tally of the second-bottom side in a 38-game season is 31, meaning teams that finish there have usually competed in a relegation battle for most of the season before ultimately falling short.

After the Premier League was reduced to 20 teams in 1995-96, only two 19th-placed sides failed to reach 30 points in the first 21 seasons. But in the past decade, seven of the 10 sides to finish in that position have failed to do so.

In the past two seasons, promoted sides Ipswich and Burnley have both finished there with just 22 points - the fewest ever taken by a second-bottom side.

Relegation battles are now mostly a fight to see who takes the final spot in the bottom three, with the other two accounted for long before the final day - often by promoted sides.

But inspired by the survival of Sunderland and Leeds, promoted trio Coventry City, Ipswich Town and Hull City will all be hoping they have what it takes to match the competitiveness of the Premier League this season.

Read more on the Premier League's competitive numbers

Hull City are close to reaching an agreement with Real Betis for 20-year-old Spanish winger Pablo Garcia. (Sport - in Spanish), external

Meanwhile the Tigers, Ipswich Town and Al-Ittihad are pushing to secure the signing of Morocco midfielder Azzedine Ounahi, 26, from Girona. (Mundo Deportivo - in Spanish), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

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Hull City owner Acun Ilicali has been speaking to BBC Radio Humberside in a three-part feature interview covering the four and a half years between him becoming the club's owner to the Tigers securing their return to the Premier League.

In the third part, he explained how purchasing Hull City came about and why he felt it was the right move for him.

"I realised I wanted to play the game on the biggest stage in the world, which is the Premier League," Ilicali said. "Of course, if you don't have £3bn in cash then you can only go for a Championship club. That's the only way in.

"So I started looking at different teams and my team was making presentations for the different teams that we could buy. Derby County, Cardiff City and Swansea City had problems at that time, so they were all options.

"When they were making Hull City's presentation to me, they said one very important thing: 'If you buy a team that is pushing in the Championship, they already have a squad, you have to pay for the squad and it will not be your squad'.

"But Hull City had just been promoted from League One, so they had a limit to spend money. They said it would be better to look at Hull City first and, if it didn't look good, to then have a look at the others.

"So I flew to Hull for half a day to meet Ehab Allam. I landed at Humberside Airport and we went to get lunch somewhere.

"I met Ehab Allam at the stadium. He was saying the club had so many offers but they wanted to sell the club to somebody that would make the people happy. They didn't want to just sell to anybody and go.

"I also met his father on that day, he was a fantastic guy. After having good conversations with them and seeing the city, I got the feeling. I've always gone through life following my feelings.

"I knew that I didn't want to go for another club, I wanted this one. We didn't ask anybody anything after that. I woke up the next morning with a very good feeling, I was excited."

Listen to part three of Acun Ilicali's interview on BBC Sounds

Eli Junior Kroupi, Igor Thiago and Nico O'Reilly were among the breakout stars who made their mark on the Premier League last season - but who will be next?

BBC Sport's TV and radio commentators have picked 13 players they believe are worth watching out for over the next few months.

Hull City's Lucas Herrington is on the list...

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Name: Lucas Herrington Age: 18 Position: Centre-back Country: Australia

Conor McNamara: I saw Herrington start for Australia at the World Cup and was impressed by his calm assurance on the ball.

He only turns 19 at the start of September and is very young for any central defender in the Premier League, so it is going to be a steep learning curve for him, but he is robust at 6ft 4in, which will help.

Herrington has played just one season in Major League Soccer with the Colorado Rapids, but he did well enough to be named in the MLS All-Stars Team. He only made his international debut in March, but became Australia's youngest starter in a World Cup game as they reached the knockout stages.

It was Herrington's penalty - blasted against the crossbar - that ultimately eliminated Australia from the tournament in their last-32 shootout defeat by Egypt.

But the fact he was given the responsibility of that crucial kick, and that he was willing to take on the challenge, shows he has immense courage.

Find the full list of possible breakout stars here

Fancy testing your football prediction skills? With the new season under way, BBC Sport has just the thing to keep you entertained every week.

After the success of our World Cup Predictor game, we've rebranded it for the club season as Match of the Day Predictor.

It's simple to play - just predict the outcome of the six fixtures we've selected from across domestic and European competitions every week.

And don't worry if you've joined late - players can join at any time, get involved with the latest round and start building a streak.

Once you've submitted your predictions, you'll also be able to see what others think the outcome of the match will be.

Read more about it here

You can find the predictor in the navigation bar at the top of this page, or click here to play

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Summer signing Jens Hjerto-Dahl says Hull City fans can expect to see a "hard-working midfielder" who likes to create chances at MKM Stadium this season.

The Norwegian spoke to BBC Radio Humberside about joining the Tigers and rising to the Premier League.

"A big step-up from what I'm used to in everything," Hjerto-Dahl said. "The players are better, the team-mates are better and you've got more quality around you. It's a bigger stadium and it's more fans so everything is just bigger.

"I'm a player who works hard, who wants to score goals and also receive crosses. Be a guy who sets his team-mates up for shots and for chances, and when we have the ball I also like to keep the ball and rest with it to create good attacks. Just a hard-working midfielder really."

When the 20-year-old was asked whether striker Oli McBurnie had spoken to him about his play-off final goal, Hjerto-Dahl said: "I actually watched that game live.

"It's a big game in Norway, English football is big in Norway, and I watched him score it live. He hasn't talked to me about it but I've seen it and that was a big moment. Biggest moment in this club maybe.

"I didn't think I would be standing here when I was watching the game back in May so, it happens fast."

Listen to the full interview below or on BBC Sounds here

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Hull City assistant manager Dean Holden says the club are still hoping to recruit players with "a bit more Premier League experience".

The Tigers were last in the top flight for the 2016-17 season and Holden is hoping they have the personnel to stay there this time.

"I was talking to Sergej [Jakirovic] and he said it was probably a bit easier last year because we knew what we had to work with," Holden said on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club. "We obviously had a plan to try to attack the league and finish as high as we could.

"This time 12 months ago we were probably everyone's favourites, certainly the bookmakers', to go down to League One and that will be the case this year. We proved the doubters wrong and we'll aim to do that again.

"In the last week or so we've brought in some real high-calibre signings, in terms of real good players, and there's a lot of young potential there. But we're still looking for a bit more Premier League experience and we're hoping that will come before the window shuts."

Hull have already had a busy transfer window this summer, signing 11 new players, and they are expected to add at least two more who will "run for the shirt" before it closes.

"If you're trying to find the perfect player who's technically excellent, who's got power and pace, I think he's probably competing at the top-end of the Premier League," Holden said.

"Anybody who saw us play last year saw a team who lives by the manager's personality. Sergej, who I think the media will fall in love with, he's straight to the point, very old school, a bit like Big Sam [Allardyce] and [Sean] Dyche. Very straight to the point and he likes his team to play like that - on the front foot, vertically and forward and to run forward, and run for the shirt."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds here

Irish centre-back Cathal McCarthy, 19, is to join Kilmarnock on a season-long loan deal from Hull City. (Killie Chronicle), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

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Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

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Last season, the Premier League was arguably more competitive than it has been for years.

While the 65 points between champions Arsenal and bottom side Wolves was around the average for a 38-game season (63), a real revolution took place in mid-table.

Since the league was reduced to 20 teams in 1995-96, the gap between the top four and the bottom three – between what has often been the Champions League and the Championship – had been increasing as the seasons went by, with the 'bigger' clubs profiting from their European adventures and the extra money they earned by regularly finishing higher in the table.

But last season, the gap between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' of the Premier League dropped from 44 points in 2024-25 to just 26 points – the smallest distance for 23 years (since 25 points in 2002-03).

The European places were more attainable than they had been for years. Despite taking a point fewer than when they finished seventh the season before, Aston Villa clinched Champions League qualification by finishing two places higher.

While Liverpool took the 'bonus' Champions League place by finishing fifth, their points total of 60 was the lowest by a side finishing there for 19 years and would have put them ninth in 2024-25.

Bournemouth and Sunderland also took full advantage of needing fewer points than normal by qualifying for European competition for the first time ever and for over half a century respectively.

Read more on the Premier League's competitive numbers

Image source, HULL CITY

Hull City's return to the Premier League has been rewarded with an ambitious summer transfer window.

The Tigers have completed 11 new signings so far and have broken their own transfer record twice in the process:

• Lucas Gourna-Douath (RB Salzburg - undisclosed fee)

• Joe Gelhardt (Leeds - undisclosed fee)

• Konstantinos Tzolakis (Olympiacos - undisclosed but around £20m plus add-ons)

• Hidemasa Morita (Free agent)

• Lucas Herrington (Colorado Rapids - undisclosed fee)

• Jens Hjerto-Dahl (Tromso - undisclosed fee)

• Óscar Zambrano (Maribor - undisclosed fee)

• Nobel Mendy (Rayo Vallecano - undisclosed but a club record surpassing £20m)

• Jack Butland (Rangers - undisclosed fee)

• Matt Targett (Free agent)

• Elliot Stroud (Mjallby AIF - undisclosed fee)

And with the Premier League back up and running in less than a week, the club don't appear to be slowing down any time soon.

Manager Sergej Jakirovic, confirmed to BBC Radio Humberside on Saturday that Hull are chasing deals for one of three potential right-backs, plus an additional striker.

Hear from him on BBC Sounds here

Giulia Bould
BBC Radio Merseyside reporter

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Hull remain interested in Tim Iroegbunam, as his injury is only minor.

The Everton midfielder is also attracting interest from other clubs across Europe, including Italy and Germany. The 23-year-old has also caught the eye of clubs in Turkey.

Image source, Getty Images

Hull City owner Acun Ilicali has been chatting to BBC Radio Humberside in a three-part feature interview where he discussed how he became one of Turkey's most popular TV stars and the owner of a Premier League football club.

The passionate Turkish media mogul shared his story in a wide-ranging chat ahead of his clubs' first top-flight game in nine years and his first since buying them in 2022.

In the first part released on Friday, Ilicali spoke about his upbringing in Turkey's northeast Erzurum Province and his formative years in media.

• Listen to all parts of Ilicali's interview and keep up with all the latest Hull news on BBC Sounds

In the second part, he reflects on how he built his media empire - including earning the nickname 'Turkey's Simon Cowell' for his establishing of shows such as Turkey's Got Talent, Deal or no Deal and The Voice.

"Deal or no Deal changed my life completely," he said.

"I made the concept and it collapsed in ratings on the first episode!

"For five episodes the show got very bad ratings. I was shocked. First time I said I would maybe be unsuccessful in my life. It went very bad. We were doing it very colourfully.

"I went to my house, didn't sleep all night, checked all Deal or no Deals in the world one by one as I was not accepting the defeat. Something was missing.

"Then, I saw the British one. Everywhere was dark, the host was serious, the contestant was serious. In other countries there was dancing and music. I said this would work better.

"I completely destroyed all other episodes. I called all the contestants on a Saturday night to the studio, got the studio dark and focused on them. I chose the contestants myself.

"There was a guy who lost his family in an earthquake. His story was good and he was so nice. He played the game with me and then the ratings immediately went a quarter of a million better."

You can listen to part two of Ilicali's chat in full here on BBC Sounds

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Hull City manager Sergej Jakirovic says a deal for Everton midfielder Tim Iroegbunam is in doubt after the 23-year-old picked up an injury.

Speaking to BBC Radio Humberside following the draw with French Ligue 1 side OGC Nice, Jakirovic said: "It's difficult because Tim is injured.

"We agreed everything between Everton and the player, but in the last game he got an abductor [injury].

"It's a minimum of six weeks so I don't know. Maybe, we will take another player because we need players right now. We don't have time.

"We will see, but what I want now is a new player in this position."

Meanwhile, Jakirovic revealed Hull are interested in three right backs, with hope one of them will sign by next weekend.

He also hopes to also acquire an additional option in the striker position.

Hull City are in advanced talks over a £21m deal for Panathinaikos forward Andreas Tetteh, with Roma also interested in the Greece international. (Ekrem Konur), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column

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