After experiencing a severe striker crisis up front for the last two months of the first half of the season, Hull City are in desperate need of reinforcements in that position. Coming January, Mike Phelan will be digging through numerous options that could fire his side out of the relegation zone, where they are current dwelling in.
And as per reports, Phelan might have found a good option in St Etienne forward Oussama Tannane. The Tigers have apparently sent their representatives four times to watch the Moroccan international so far and the scouts have come back with positive feedback for the forward.
Hull are considering an offer of €5m to initiate the deal. The 22-year-old has appeared 10 times this season for the French club, scoring once and assisting the same. He also bagged an all-important goal for his club in the Europa League. St Etienne have qualified to the knockout stages of the European competition and have been pitted against Manchester United for the next round, which resumes in February.
Hull City have been unfortunate lately. Their latest defeat away at West Ham United saw Phelan’s men striking the goalpost thrice and were ultimately beaten by conceding a late penalty, despite dominating the game for the most part. Perhaps a better finisher can help their cause.
A youth product of Ajax academy, Tannane has come up the ranks playing in clubs like Zeeburgia Yth., FC Utrecht U17, PSV U17, H’veen/Emmen II, SC Heerenveen, and Heracles Almelo, before he moved to St Etienne last winter.
A natural forward, Tannane can play anywhere in the attacking third- on the wings, attacking midfield and central midfield. However, both his goals this season have come from playing as the foremost player in attack.
The 178cm forward could be a valuable addition to the Hull City squad, giving them a little more edge than Mbokani provides at the moment. Tannane has an average passing accuracy of 78% and an average shot accuracy of 55%. Having players like Snodgrass and Livermore behind him to provide the pass could help him flourish a lot more than he is currently doing.
Tannane wins 48% of his average duels, which makes him another valuable asset for Phelan, whose strikers often fall back and defend and win the ball before countering.
Although Hull City are a newly promoted side and there is no reason for Tannane to make the move as he is already playing in European competition, he could really be nurtured well by someone like Phelan. However, even if that happens, coming January looks highly unlikely a time for this deal to materialise.
