Hull City are currently fighting a six-way race to avoid relegation in the Premier League. Despite reaching the semis of the EFL Cup after some resilient performances, the Tigers have failed to bring that spark in the league. Mike Phelan is running short on options up front and will be desperately looking to bring in fresh recruitments this winter.
Although reports state that Hull are likely to miss out on their long-term target Nemanja Nikolic as MLS side Chicago Fire have already pursued the Legia Warsaw striker to join them, Phelan would surely give it a last try to land the 28-year-old Hungary international.
Nikolic is an absolute goal machine. He has scored 7 goals in 17 appearances in the domestic league and netted 6 goals in Legia’s Champions League campaign this season. He has a shot accuracy of 57%, which is better than many renowned European forwards.
He has been a long-term transfer target for the Tigers, and a deal was all-but done to bring the Hungarian to East Yorkshire in summer, but takeover talks delayed the move. After it didn’t materialise, Hull had to go for the former Manchester United player Will Keane.
But, as luck would have it, the former England under-21 international is expected to be out for the remaining of the campaign and the other option Abel Hernandez is yet to return the first team. Thanks to Mbokani, who has held Hull’s forward line steady for the time being. Although he has got a helping hand in Robert Snodgrass, the Congolese would definitely need support up front sooner or later.
Hull’s reliance on Mbokani has been way too much. His absence led to the Tigers losing out against Middlesbrough this week. Their other young English forward Greg Leur is also out until next year with a knee injury.
January will once again give Mike Phelan the chance to make a move to sign Nikolic. A goal scoring player like him could well fire Hull out of the relegation zone. And with other teams like West Ham United, Leicester City and Crystal Palace all under-performing, Hull have the perfect opportunity to escape the muddle.
Nikolic’s availability has surely made it to the top priority in the head coach’s list. Nikolic’s brilliant positioning and acceleration will make him a decent addition to the English Premier League. Although his defensive contributions will be a matter of concern for the Premier League, Phelan can surely do with just his goal-scoring attributes for now.
