Hull City manager Grant McCann has stated that he will meet with Tom Huddlestone today to discuss the 34-year old's future.

Huddlestone has been without a club since his exit from Derby County after the end of the 2019/20 season, but returned to The Tigers this summer on trial and featured in pre-season friendlies against Scunthorpe United and Manchester United U23's, including a goal in the latter fixture.

In order for a permanent return to the MKM Stadium for the veteran midfielder, one player must leave after The Tigers reached the maximum of a 25-man squad imposed following a transfer embargo when Matt Smith joined on loan from Manchester City. However, McCann believes a development regarding someone leaving the club is close. Hull Live report that a deal between the two parties is "likely to be concluded".

Huddlestone remains a cult hero to many in East Yorkshire following his previous spell. Between 2013 and 2017 he accumulated 161 appearances for City, being part of a side that reached the club's first ever FA Cup Final, a first stint in European competition, as well as returning to the Premier League in the 2016 Championship play-off final.

Despite the sentimental value the signing would bring for Hull City supporters, McCann made it clear that there are other potential suitors hoping to secure the 34-year old's signature. The City boss had this to say in an interview with BBC Radio Humberside after a comprehensive 4-1  victory over Preston.

He said: “I’m going to sit down with Tom on Monday, so I’m hoping to have a bit more news then. We’re not the only club that’s interested in taking Tom, I may as well say that.

“There’s a lot of interest in Tom and I’ll sit down with him on Monday and see where we go.

"We still need to get one out, we’re very close to moving one player on – you’ve seen Jordan Flores left so we’re going to help the lad out. At the end of the day, people need to play football and we need to put a competitive squad together.

"It’s not about keeping people around for the sake of it, I think its important people play football and we get who we need in our squad.”

When asked if he could share more details about the player close to the exit door, the Northern Irishman gave a straight up: "No, I’m not.

"We’re trying, we haven’t got any space at this present time but we will do if we move one.”

 

 

 

The Verdict

A lot of Hull City fans will more likely see the sentimental value of this potential deal, but if you scratch the surface there is a lot more to it.

Huddlestone will be walking into a squad that in some areas, is fairly inexperienced at Championship level and his experience will prove vital in order to help The Tigers try and consolidate back in the second tier. Not only that, but the amount of local players in Hull's squad is very high, and to have a player involved with them who they grew up watching back in the day - a point also raised by McCann - will raise the standard of their game.

In a period where a lot of City fans believe connecting with this group of players comes over making statements about ownership problems, something that was clear to see amongst the 1,800 fans who travelled to Deepdale, having a club legend return will make this feeling go up another level, with chants of Huddlestone's name ringing out in the away end proving what the Tiger Nation think.

The only potential downsides are how much game time is Huddlestone likely to get, after not playing in a competitive fixture, coincidentally, since Derby County beat Hull 1-0 in January 2020, and during the hard slog of a Championship season will he be capable of playing every game, especially with the number of midfielders already on the books.

Perhaps the thinking is to add some more steel into the side in certain game scenarios, in a season where McCann has admitted struggles will come, and Huddlestone's knowhow could go a long way to improving City's chances of survival.