Football Season Guide

Despite taking charge of a side that secured safety on goal difference in 2024/25, Sergej Jakirovic managed to lead sixth-placed Hull City to the top flight thanks to a late Oli McBurnie winner in the play-off final versus Middlesbrough. Last season’s side was made up of free agent signings, loans, and shrewd contract negotiations due to Hull City facing a transfer embargo. Aware that their team is considered one of the weakest to have secured Premier League promotion over the last few years, the club are looking very active in the transfer window in their bid to strengthen a squad lacking quality. That said, their opening-day XI is likely to look very similar to the one that started against Middlesbrough, but newcomers Nobel Mendy, Konstantinos Tzolakis and Jens Hjertø-Dahl are all poised to become regular starters, while more reinforcements are expected to arrive until the end of the transfer window. In Tzolakis, Hull boast a 23-year-old goalkeeper who already boasts Champions League experience and played a key role in his former team, Olympiacos, winning the Conference League title a couple of years ago. Meanwhile, Nobel Mendy was one of the standout young defenders in LaLiga last season and Lucas Herrington’s is regarded one of Australia’s biggest talents. However, there are major doubts over whether Hull can make the necessary additions to build a squad capable of competing in the Premier League as the lack of quality across the squad is quite evident.