Turkey international Berat Ozdemir admits Hull City tried to lure him to the English Championship before he swapped Turkish champions Trabzonspor for Saudi Arabia in a £2 million deal, speaking to Sporx.
New Hull owner Acun Ilicali certainly made good use of his Turkish connections over the summer. In total, six new players arrived in Humberside from the far reaches of Europe; Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, Dogukan Sinik, Ozan Tufan, Adama Traore, Benjamin Tetteh and goalscoring wideman Dimitrios Pelkas.
Six could have become seven, too, if Ozdemir had accepted Hull’s proposal.
“Yes,” the once-capped defensive midfielder admits when asked if the Tigers had made him an offer before the September deadline.
“Outside of Hull City, there were offers from two different countries in Europe for me in the transfer window.”
Hull City wanted former Trabzonspor ace Berat Ozdemir
Ozdemir, a key figure in Trabzonspor’s first Super Lig win since the 1980s last season, eventually joined Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Ettifaq for a fee of £2 million. He is now sharing a dressing room with the likes of former CSKA striker Vitinha and Sweden international Robin Quaison; Mainz’s all-time top Bundesliga goalscorer.
Hull, meanwhile, have endured an inconsistent season so far; seven wins but 10 defeats to show for their efforts. The ill-fated appointment of Shota Averladze has given way to the arrival of Liam Rosenior, one of the most highly-thought of young coaches in the whole of the EFL.
Hull picked up a morale-boosting 3-2 win at Cardiff City last time out; triumphing despite the absence of suspended top scorer Oscar Estupinan.
“I’m just proud,” former Derby County boss Rosenior told Hull Live. “The resilience, the character of the players in the group from a position in the first half where I’ve been in for three training sessions and for them to put into practice and believe in what I’m trying to instil in this team, I thought the first half was outstanding.
“In terms of the control, the dominance, the chances we created. I said in the first press conference that we’re going to make mistakes playing this way, it’s part of the process but what I was so pleased with was the reaction to come back when you’re basically in control of the game.
“When you go behind and to come back and for young Regan (Slater) to score goals in the second half, I couldn’t be prouder of the group.”
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