Tigers Transfer Talk: Weekly Hull City round-up, Steven Fletcher linked

It's time for another weekly round-up of Hull City transfer rumours. Most of it will be nonsense but we love it anyway!

(C) Express

Saturday 11^th June 2016

It was suggested by @TransferCentreL yesterday but appears in today’s Daily Record - City are interested in another released player – ex-Sunderland striker Steven Fletcher. The Scot has been linked time and time again since Steve Bruce became manager so this isn’t unexpected. According to the report though, Celtic lead City and Aston Villa in the “race” for his signature.

Friday 10^th June 2016

Nick Powell was officially released by Manchester United and the twitter account @TransferCentreL reports City, Wigan, Leeds and Blackburn want to sign him on a free transfer.

Thursday 9^th June 2016

The law of the transfer window states that Hull City or Norwich City must be relegated and the one that is has to sell a top player to the other. According to the usually unreliable HITC, that player this window is Ryan Bennett. The former Grimsby centre-half, 26, joined Norwich from Peterborough in 2012 for around £3m. Middlesbrough and Celtic are also rumoured to be interested. The BBC website suggested Middlesbrough had made an enquiry but not the others.

Wednesday 8^th June 2016

HITC speculate on the future of Nick Powell today. Leeds, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and his one-time temporary home Wigan are amongst the clubs said to be chasing him on a free transfer from Manchester United. City were linked last Sunday.

Tuesday 7^th June 2016

The Mirror make an obvious link today. City are said to keen to bring back former Tiger James Chester from WBA. Chester has never settled at Albion after his £8m move last summer. He was rarely used by Tony Pulis and when he was, it was often at right-back. Swansea are also interested in the Welsh international who should cost less than that previous £8m price tag but a hell of a lot more than the £300k it cost Nigel Pearson to bring him to City in the first place.

The Mirror article also claimed City are interested in Will Grigg. See below for the reason behind this nonsense!

Monday 6^th June 2016

It used to be a challenge to separate the transfer rumours from the real stories. Nowadays the challenge is even working out what is a real rumour. The terrible HITC carried a speculative story on the future of Wigan striker Will Grigg this morning. They mentioned that City were 16/1 to sign him. That’s a massive price that is indicative of nothing whatsoever. The Hull Daily Mail then carried the story on their website, pure “clickbait”, with no context whatsoever. It then appeared on the Nottingham Post and Yorkshire Post amongst others. No doubt that will lead to a spate of bets being placed and the odds will tumble. Then it will become a story. Modern journalism, eh?

Sunday 5^th June 2016

The Bristol Post report that Bristol City are trying to turn striker Lee Tomlin’s loan from Bournemouth into a permanent £2.5m move. The Post say a bid has been lodged but it has not officially been confirmed by either club. They also say that Hull City, Newcastle and Norwich have been admirers of the player. City have been linked with Tomlin in several transfer windows so this is likely to be old news – as is this story, it was published on June 2^nd but has gone under the radar.

The Sun and the Daily Star both report that City want to sign Nick Powell on a permanent transfer. The 22-year-old midfielder-cum-forward joined Manchester United from Crewe for an initial £4m in 2012 but it hasn’t worked out at Old Trafford and despite his loan spell with The Tigers being a complete waste of time this year – the papers say Steve Bruce wants to keep him.

Also in The Sun, released City striker Sone Aluko is rumoured to be a target of former City manager Nigel Pearson’s Derby County.

Saturday 4^th June 2016

The Hull Daily Mail carried a rumour linking City’s 21 goal striker Abel Hernandez with Fiorentina. I’ve done some digging and the rumour appears to have started a few days ago on Italian football website Calcio News 24. There’s no substance to the story whatsoever with the only justification being Fiorentina’s new director of sport Pantaleo Corvino’s admiration of Hernandez. I’m sure lots of people admire him – it doesn’t mean they’re getting him!

The Express link Hull City, Brighton, Celtic and Rangers with 30-year-old Newcastle defender Steven Taylor. Barring a loan with Wycombe, Taylor has spent his whole career with Newcastle and has represented England at all levels but fell just short of a full cap. He may have progressed further but a career blighted by injury means he has only ever managed to play thirty league games in a season once. Perhaps for that same reason, he’s not a very good defender – as is always the case when you get a player whose key attributes are said to be loyalty or bravery. Hopefully this is nonsense.

Radio Humberside’s David Burns poured cold water on the Oliver Norwood rumour on Twitter suggesting it was a fabrication by an agent. Burnley are favourites to sign Norwood.