With Jake Livermore sold to West Brom and Robert Snodgrass sold to West Ham, today has seen Hull City defender Andy Robertson linked with Burnley.
With just 32 hours of the transfer window remaining, to say Hull City were in a precarious position would be putting it incredibly lightly. Following the arrival of Marco Silva at the club, there was a glimmer of hope. The young Portuguese coach has inspired three wins from three at home, including an absurd victory against Manchester United given the Tigers starting XI on Thursday.
However, the club’s hierarchy is now running the risk of undoing all Silva’s hard work and essentially waving the white flag and accepting that the club’s fate is relegation. The sale of Jake Livermore to West Brom was deemed understandable by some, provided Silva was given the funds to invest in his own targets and put his stamp on the team.
The sale of Robert Snodgrass was also defended from some quarters, despite him being Hull’s standout player so far this campaign, as he had reportedly ‘downed tools’. Today saw a fresh link though, and yet again it was with a departure from the KCOM Stadium, with left-back Andy Robertson reportedly set for a £10 million move to fellow Premier League new boys Burnley.
Hull City have already sold Jake Livermore and Robert Snodgrass this January
Those defending the sales of Livermore and Snodgrass were noticeably quiet when murmurs of a Robertson departure began to circulate. It would be difficult to defend such a sale when Hull already have a skeleton squad, sit embroiled in a relegation scrap, have already sold two key players so far this window and were thrashed by Fulham at the weekend.
Yet the majority of Tigers fans now know not to rule anything out given some of the decisions that have taken place in recent times. Whispers that Marco Silva will resign should Robertson become a Claret either today or tomorrow are unconfirmed, but few would be surprised, at least few who are well acquainted with the situation in East Yorkshire.
On the flip side, others have reported that Hull City are on the cusp of a string of key arrivals ready to propel them to safety and that Marco Silva remains a man confident and determined to guide his black and amber ship to safety.
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Marco Silva’s views on the events going on at Hull City are currently unclear
Rarely are there such contrasting reports coming out of a single club at any one time, but rarely has there been a club in such a state of flux as Hull City.
Ultimately, their fate may rest on whatever happens in the next 32 hours. If Andy Robertson is sold and serious re-enforcements are not made, then even the mightily impressive Silva stands no chance of keeping the Tigers in the Premier League, and he would have very solid grounds to resign from his post, as it seems impossible he would agree to taking the role under such circumstances.
If Robertson is not sold, and the £20 million recuperated from the sales of Livermore and Snodgrass is reinvested, as well as one more incoming loan, then Silva will still have an almighty task on his hands, but he will at least have been given a chance, and the actions of the January window will no longer seem quite so sinister.
Hull City’s vice-chairman Ehab Allam
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Whether the Allams are ‘asset stripping’ Hull City, as some have suggested, remains to be seen. Financially it would seemingly make far more sense for them to back Silva, who’s team have shown signs they can get out of trouble, as the club is worth far more to sell in the Premier League than all player sales combined, but not all their decisions seem to have made sense since August 2013, to put it lightly.
The next 32 hours will not just define Hull City’s season and their chances of survival, but also answer those questions surrounding some of the Allams motives, and also the long-term future of the club. The near-certain relegation that would come from a poor Deadline Day for Hull City could set the tone for the next 3, 4, 5 or even 10 years of the club.
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