Hull City chief discusses ongoing transfer interest in Tim Walter’s squad…

City have no shortage of interest in some of their players and more could yet move on

Hull City vice-chairman Tan Kesler says interest in the club’s players should be viewed as a positive despite the fact Tim Walter’s squad is already wafer thin.

City have received bids for Sean McLoughlin, which have been rejected, while there’s interest in Jason Lokilo, Ryan Longman and Jean Michael Seri and the club have sold Matt Ingram to Oxford United.

Ingram departed the Tigers’ training camp in Istanbul earlier this week to return to England and tie up a move to the Kassam Stadium. It’s likely there could be more departures before the club are able to bring in new recruits, with Lokilo absent from Thursday’s defeat to Fenerbahce

Loughlin has been the subject of firm bids and was coy over his future when asked while Hull Live revealed prior to the trip to Turkey that Seri was attracting interest from Saudi Arabia, a story confirmed by Kesler.

Any more departures before significant arrivals would leave City’s already thin squad even weaker with the season only just over two weeks away from getting underway.

The message from owner Acun Ilicali, Kesler and boss Tim Walter is one of calm, but fans are understandably worried about the shape of the squad going into the new season and an element of uncertainty.

“I think after all successful seasons, we get a lot of interest in our players,” he told Hull Live. “I’ve always said that we don’t try to sell our players but we don’t put a price on our players either. We were open to taking offers from anybody else for our players as long as they’re acceptable to us. At the same time, it gives us an understanding of what the value of our players is from what we see, so this is where we’re at. We’ve had enquiries for Seri, enquiries for Sean McLoughlin, but it’s the coach’s decision as well.

“If he wants to keep them, we will keep him if he wants to. If they want to stay, we keep them, we’re not trying to just sell all our players. To create that competitive environment, it takes time. We want to keep and hold on to our players as long as they want to be here, if they want to go, that’s a different story to be discussed.”