Mention the final days of the transfer window to Acun Ilicali and his face comes alive, his eyes glisten and his smile is as wide as the Bosphorus in his beloved Istanbul.
The Hull City owner is bracing himself for a frantic final two days before the summer window closes at 11pm on Friday night, just hours before the Tigers take to the field at Elland Road for a crunch Yorkshire derby against rivals Leeds United.
City got off to a slow start in the early weeks of the summer with just Ryan Giles and Cody Drameh arriving before a flurry of eight so far in August has taken the tally to 10, and more to follow before the week is done which could see that total rise towards 16.
After flying in to address supporters at the MKM Stadium ahead of the first game against Bristol City, the Tigers have brought in the likes of Liam Millar, Charlie Hughes, Anthony Racioppi and Mason Burstow, with a clear emphasis on bringing players in on permanent deals.
Ilicali, who has been at the forefront of negotiations in the past couple of weeks and will be again as the Tigers look to secure a leading goalkeeper and striker, amongst other areas of recruitment said again that this summer has been one of transition after Liam Rosenior’s exit and as many as 20 players leaving.
“This is the most interesting time,” Ilicali told Hull Live. “I told our fans that we were going to make almost one transfer every day, and it’s been like that with six or seven transfers in the last 10 days or so.
“I think that the process is going good, I enjoy it, but I will be enjoying it more when I see the performance of the players like we saw last year. I want our fans to understand what a big team we made last year.”
Ilicali was again at pains to point out that City have seen the likes of Jacob Greaves, Jaden Philogene, Liam Delap and Fabio Carvalho all make permanent moves to the Premier League. Anass Zaroury has also gone to Lens in France’s top league, emphasising what a strong side the club put together in the second half of last season.
“Anass Zaroury has just gone to the French Ligue 1, so that shows again what a big team we created last season,” he continued. “I think that’s five players now playing in the top league. For me, it was a big pain to miss out on getting into the top six with this squad, but this is football and now we are rebuilding.
