Hull City are one of those teams in the Premier league, who have seen a lot of reshuffling this season so far from fixture to fixture. At times, the Tigers have even seen themselves defending with five at the back to secure a win and sometimes completely thinning their anchor position to play more attackers up front.
This could have been quite effective if the team had the correct depth and fit players to take their natural positions. But, that hasn’t been the case with Hull for most parts of the season and they have ended up defending with their central midfielders occasionally.
As a result, the leaky defence looked beyond repair at times. To further add to the burden, players like Moses Odubajo, Alex Bruce, Cutis Davies and more absent due to injury, the Tigers haven’t been able to make any impact in big games. On a positive note, Michael Dawson has been the only defender to make things happen both on the back and at the front, scoring thrice in his 12 appearances.
New boss Marco Silva, has definitely had an immediate impact on the team and has wasted no time in getting targets prioritised for the transfer season. And as per reports, the latest player to have found his name in the Portuguese’ shopping list is Fenerbahce defender Gregory van der Wiel.
The Tigers are desperate for a new right-back now with Ahmed Elmohamady away on international duty with Egypt at the African Nations Cup and Odubajo almost out of the season with a knee injury. Silva has already enquired about the player with the Turkish side, where he has seen his first team chances drying up fast.
The Netherlands international made a surprise move to the Turkish side last summer after some impressive displays with Paris Saint-Germain and many touting him as the next big thing. However, since his move he has failed to impress or establish himself in Turkey making only six appearances in the Turkish Super Lig and 12 in total in all competitions.
According to ESPN, van der Wiel is open for a move to the Premier League, although it will definitely not be a level up for him. The biggest hindrance for Hull, however, will be his wage structure that is quite lucrative at Turkey. But given Silva’s positive mindset as he has already negotiated successfully with Everton’s Omar Niasse and Porto midfielder Evandro, this deal is likely to happen.
Hull are currently dwelling at the bottom of the Premier League table and will need something remarkable to turn the table in the second half of the season. And van der Wiel might be a big step in that.
