Hull City look like they could be on their way back to the Championship.

The Tigers are three points clear at the top of League One and five points above third-place Sunderland, though they have played more games than the majority of the sides below them.

Even so, Grant McCann's men look as though they've got a great chance of ensuring the club's stay in the third tier lasts just one season.

Promotion back to the Championship would likely mean a busy summer transfer window as the Yorkshire club look to give McCann the tools to not just stay up but thrive in the second tier of English football.

Having been in the Premier League not long ago, the Tigers are no stranger to splashing the cash in the transfer market and today we're looking back at some of their biggest deals.

We've scoured the records to find Hull City's top 10 most expensive signings and examine what they are up to now...

The Norwegian midfielder's time at the KCOM Stadium ended very sourly, with a contract standoff, a loan move elsewhere, and then a departure as a free agent, but Markus Henriksen looked a shrewd signing when he first arrived.

After he'd impressed on loan in the first half of the 2016/17 campaign, Hull paid AZ Alkmaar £4.5 million for him in January 2017.

He was a mainstay through the next two seasons but a contract standoff meant he was an outcast last term before leaving on a free transfer in the summer.

The 28-year-old returned to boyhood club Rosenborg in the summer and featured regularly for them before their 2020 season came to an end.

One of football's great characters and a brilliant playmaker on his day, Hull spent £5 million to sign Jimmy Bullard from Fulham in January 2009.

That was a record transfer for the Tigers at the time but though there were some early exciting moments – including 'that' celebration – ultimately he never quite lived up to the billing.

Injuries didn't help but Bullard left the club having made just 24 appearances in total, joining first Ipswich Town and then MK Dons.

He retired from football in 2012 and after a brief spell in management with non-league side Leatherhead, is now one of the co-presenters on Sky Sports show Soccer AM.

The first of three players on this list that joined Hull from Tottenham Hotspur, Tom Huddlestone signed for £5 million in August 2013.

Given the midfielder made more than 150 appearances for the club over the next four years – featuring for them in the Premier League, Championship, and Europa League, as well as helping them return to the top flight in 2016 – that was money well spent.

Huddlestone joined Derby County in 2017 but is currently a free agent after leaving Pride Park in the summer.

The 34-year-old has recently teased a potential return to the KCOM Stadium.

His exit may have been partly to blame for Hull's nightmare relegation last term but Kamil Grosicki proved a fantastic signing for the Tigers.

They spent £7 million for him in January 2017, bringing him to the KCOM from Rennes, and though he couldn't help them stay in the Premier League he went on to impress.

Grosicki notched up 26 goals and 27 assists before leaving in January 2019 to join West Bromwich Albion.

He remains at the Hawthorns club now but has been an outcast this term, featuring just five times in all competitions.

With his contract up in the summer, he looks likely to be on the move.

It cost Hull £7 million to prize Shane Long away from West Bromwich Albion in January 2014.

The Republic of Ireland international had fired in goals for Reading and the Baggies but his stay at the KCOM was very short.

Long left in August that year having made just 17 appearances and scored just four times – though he did earn the Tigers a nice profit when he joined Southampton, where he contributed significantly more.

The 34-year-old is currently on loan in the Championship with Bournemouth but is set to return to the Saints at the end of the season as he still has a year left on his current deal.

When he is on song, Robert Snodgrass is an absolute wizard and given the impact he'd had with Leeds United and Norwich City, it made sense for Hull to sign him for £7 million in July 2014.

The Scottish playmaker helped the Tigers return to the Premier League but was snapped up by West Ham United in January 2017.

He didn't have it all his own way at the London Stadium and after a loan spell at first Aston Villa, he signed for West Bromwich Albion in January as Sam Allardyce looked to bolster his squad.

The 33-year-old is under contract with Albion until 2022.

Striker's often demand the largest transfer fees, so it's no surprise that Nikica Jelavic is not the only goalscorer on this list.

The Croatian joined the Tigers in January 2014, with the Yorkshire club paying Everton an initial £6.5 million for his services.

Jelavic helped them stay in the Premier League, scoring five times in his first season with a clause in the deal taking the total price up to £7.5 million because Hull survived.

He scored eight more the following season before leaving to join West Ham United in 2015.

The 35-year-old has played in China and Croatia since but retired earlier this year.

The second player Hull signed from Spurs on this list, Jake Livermore had his ups and downs while at the Yorkshire club.

Livermore cost them £8 million – a club record at the time – when he made the switch from north London in 2014, having been on loan at the club for the previous season.

The England international was a regular fixture in the Tigers' midfield for a number of seasons and played a key role in their promotion back to the Premier League in 2015/16 but also suffered with off-field issues.

He left to join West Bromwich Albion midway through the 2016/17 campaign and remains at the Hawthorns to this day, having become the Midlands club's captain.

Hull broke their transfer record by spending £10 million to sign Abel Hernandez from Italian club Palermo in 2014.

The Uruguay international bagged 39 goals across four seasons with the club and was instrumental to their 2016/17 promotion-winning campaign.

But he could never quite cut it for the Tigers in the Premier League and couldn't help them stay up a few years later.

He left the Tigers in 2018 after turning down a new contract offer, first joining Russian team CSKA Moscow, before signing for Qatar Stars League club Al-Ahli SC.

Hernandez now plays for Sport Club Internacional in the Brazilian top tier and scored five times for them last season.

Though it cost £13 million for Hull to sign Ryan Mason from Spurs, they looked to have landed a really talented central midfielder.

Mason's exploits in north London had earned him recognition on the international stage via an England cap, so when the Tigers broke their transfer record to sign him in 2016 there was a fair bit of excitement.

Unfortunately, medical issues forced the midfielder into retirement in 2018 after fracturing his skull in a game against Chelsea.

He is now a coach at Spurs, having joined the coaching staff back in 2018 and was promoted to Head of Player Development, Under-17 to Under-23 last year.