Hull City transfer guru Jared Dublin details Ruben Selles’ big January wish
Ruben Selles has already made it clear to Hull City bosses that he wants to get the size of the squad to a more manageable level, with some of that work expected to happen in January.
City’s squad stands at a staggering 38 players, and while that does include a flurry of young players who have not featured in the Championship yet this season, the number remains too high for the new head coach and a major drain on the club’s finances.
Selles is thought to want a working group of around 22 to 23 players, similar to former manager Liam Rosenior, and the club will look to trim away some of the fat when the transfer window opens next month. The Tigers are at their squad limit within EFL rules and at this stage, cannot register any more players, so there will be a need to make some big decisions in the coming days.
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The Tigers will be able to de-register the suspended Oscar Zambrano, with the Ecuador international unlikely to play again this season after being slapped with a 16-month doping ban, and while he will appeal that to CAS, it’s not expected to be reduced enough to see him feature before the campaign ends, though he remains on the payroll. Injured duo Liam Millar and Mohamed Belloumi are two others who will not play again this term, and can be de-registered if need be.
Newly-appointed sporting director Jared Dublin says the club will look to move players out next month, and again in the summer, in a bid to lower the number and cost of the Tigers’ squad, which ballooned in the summer.
“Well, Ruben’s told me once he took over that he prefers to work with a smaller squad,” Dublin told Hull Live. “Of course, you have to balance the injuries that we already have with two wingers being out for the season, which means that, of course, we’ll have to supplement in certain areas, but yes, at the minute, the squad is large.
We have players that out of contract in the summer, so we expect that we will dwindle that a bit to a more comfortable level both for the head coach and for the club to continue moving forward.
“Now, are there times when you need that extra push and that extra bit of quality to get you over the line or take you out of your current predicament? The answer would be yes at times, but in an ideal world, when we operate with this size of a squad moving forward, the answer is no.”
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