Hull City vice-chairman Tan Kesler has revealed the Tigers may only sanction a loan move for Mallik Wilks this summer, speaking to Hull Live about the forward's future.

The 23-year-old was a regular starter under Grant McCann during the early stages of the 2021/22 campaign despite the fact he wasn't able to be as lethal in front of goal as he was in 2020/21, often playing alongside Josh Magennis.

However, an injury and Shota Arveladze's arrival has been a game-changer for the Englishman who looks set to be on the fringes of the first team with Allahyar Sayyadmanesh making his move permanent and Oscar Estupinan coming in from Vitoria.

Despite looking as though he would be surplus to requirements at the MKM Stadium, a one-year extension was triggered on his contract back in May to keep him at the club next summer.

There has been no shortage of interest in his services in recent months with Birmingham City and League One outfit Sheffield Wednesday both believed to have been interested in recruiting him, with the latter seemingly holding the stronger interest.

They remain interested in luring him to Hillsborough despite their failure to negotiate an agreement with the Tigers, though they may have to settle for a temporary deal if Kesler's comments are anything to go by.

Speaking about Wilks' future, he said: "He and I, we’ve spoken (to each other) and he’s at the level now where he’s trying to prove himself to this group, and he is focussed on here.

"He’s happy that there’s interest and he wants to take his chances here until the last moment, and then go.

"To be honest, we haven’t decided if we’re going to do a permanent or temporary at the moment. We may want to let him go for one year of football and then come back and see him again."

The Verdict:

This is an interesting situation because it looked as though the forward's time at the MKM Stadium was already up, even after his contributions during their promotion-winning 2020/21 season.

At 23, you feel there's still plenty of time for him to adapt to the challenges of the second tier and this is why many people would think it would be premature to sell him on already.

However, cashing in on him during this window will enable them to generate a fee for his services because there are no guarantees he will put pen to paper on fresh terms if he's offered a new contract in East Yorkshire next summer.

And it doesn't exactly look as though he features heavily in manager Arveladze's plans, so selling him to balance the books and help to free up more room for another player to arrive may be the ideal scenario.

If they are to let go of him for a cheap deal, they should be looking to insert a considerable sell-on clause in his deal because there's every chance he could move back up to the second tier in the future, even if it's without the Owls.