Mohamed Belloumi is expected to be eligible to play for Hull City against Sheffield United next week despite not being named in the Tigers’ official squad list.

On Friday the Football League published the squad lists for all 72 clubs, plus lists of the contracted under-21 players who can supplement it.

One name notable by its absence was that of 22-year-old Algerian winger Belloumi, who signed for the Tigers on deadline evening last week, too late to make his debut at Leeds United.

The Yorkshire Post has contacted Hull about the omission and been assured that Balloumi, one of 15 summer signings, has been officially listed and registered to play.

Even when Belloumi is added, Hull will have the scope to add two free agents who can be signed outside of transfer windows, and Colombian midfielder Steven Alzate is expected to take one of those spots after being released by Brighton and Hove Albion.

That apart, only players on either the senior or junior lists can appear in Football League games until the transfer window re-opens in January.

HULL CITY SQUAD: Chris Bedia, Finley Burns, Lewie Coyle, Cody Drameh, Ryan Giles, Matty Jacob, Will Jarvis, Alfie Jones, Ryan Longman, Sean McLoughlin, Marvin Mehlem, Liam Millar, Abdulkadir Omur, Kasey Palmer, Ivor Pandur, Gustavo Puerta, Anthony Racioppo, Carl Rushworth, Dogukan Sinik, Regan Slater, Andy Smith, Oscar Zambrano.

Hull City wanted permanent deal for Chelsea striker after Burnley loan

Hull City tried to sign Chelsea striker David Datro Fofana on a permanent deal on deadline day, according to HullLive reporter Barry Cooper.
Hull City were keen on landing the Premier League attacker on the final day of the transfer window last Friday. However, the player wasn’t interested in dropping into the Championship and ended up staying put at Stamford Bridge.

Fofana, 21, spent last season away on loan at Union Berlin and Burnley respectively. He scored four goals in 15 games for the latter during the second-half of the last campaign after linking up with them in January.

As per journalist Cooper on the 1904 Club, the Tigers wanted him: “They were in talks with Chelsea over Deivid Washington, that came after trying to sign (David Datro) Fofana, who was on loan at Burnley last year. That didn’t happen. They agreed everything with Chelsea, permanent deal, they were going to spend an awful lot of money potentially on Fofana.

“Fofana just didn’t fancy the move. That didn’t happen. There was talk about Hoffenheim. I think he wanted to go to Hoffenheim in Germany, but that didn’t happen.”

Hull City wanted striker

Hull City could have seen Fofana as someone to bolster their options at the top end of the pitch.

They raided Chelsea earlier in the summer to bring in Mason Burstow, whilst they also landed Chris Bedia on loan from Union Berlin. Those two are their only senior forwards at the moment.

Fofana would have given the Tigers more competition up top but it wasn’t meant to be.

The Ivory Coast international, who has three caps under his belt to date, broke into the first-team at Molde back in 2021.

He played 65 games for the Eliteserien side in all competitions as a youngster and scored 24 goals.

That form earned him a switch to Chelsea in 2022 and he has since played four times for the Blues.

He was given the green light to join Union Berlin just over 12 months ago but only found the net four times in 17 outings for the Bundesliga outfit.

Fofana then switched to Burnley last winter but couldn’t prevent the Clarets from slipping out of the top flight.