By all accounts, Hull City are in advanced talks to sign Turkish midfielder Ozan Tufan this summer.

However, the Tigers should be extremely wary of this transfer dealing given the 27-year-old's track record of late.

Take the 2021/22 season, for example. Tufan joined newly promoted Premier League side Watford ahead of their return to the top-flight, and there was optimism over his arrival at the time.

However, things did not work out at all for Tufan in Hertfordshire, appearing just nine times for the club, only one of which was a full 90 minutes.

The Turkish midfielder's loan deal was terminated early and as far as Watford were concerned, it was good riddance.

Poor pre-season to blame?

For whatever reason, the 27-year-old did not look prepared for the intensity of the Premier League, and the Hornets must have been relieved that their relegation meant that their option to purchase Tufan at the end of the season did not become an obligation.

However, his lack of ability to adapt to life in the Premier League can potentially be attributed to the pre-season that he endured last summer, as outlined by The Athletic.

 

 

With Turkey being a 'red-listed country' at the time of Tufan's signing, the 27-year-old was sent to Udinese and assigned a personal trainer to put him through a 'mini pre-season'.

As such, when Tufan arrived at Watford on the 8th September, the only sort of pre-season he had was training alone with a personal trainer, meanwhile, the Hornets were about to play their fourth game of the Premier League season, never mind pre-season.

Reasons to be optimistic

Despite how things went at Watford, Tufan's performances in the Turkish Super Lig for Fenerbahce should be greatly encouraging for Hull City fans.

In the 2019/20 season, for example, the 27-year-old scored six goals and registered six assists from midfield in 33 league appearances - an impressive tally.

What is even more impressive is that the Turkish international was able to build on these numbers the following season, scoring an identical number of goals, but adding four assists to his tally, taking his direct goal contributions for the 2020/21 campaign to 16.

It is these numbers that make bringing Tufan to the MKM Stadium one that Hull City have to take a gamble on.

With a proper, full pre-season behind him, and a drop down in levels from the Premier League to the Championship, if his attitude is right, Tufan could be a real big hit for the Tigers.