Hull City are already in a real battle to stay in the Championship, but their task has been made even more difficult now.
The Tigers lost Jarrod Bowen and Kamil Grosicki in January, and have struggled since then. With nine defeats in their last 11 games before the global pandemic, Hull are in a dire position.
They now sit just two points clear of the relegation zone – and will now have to head into the resumed season without a number of first-team players.
Eric Lichaj, Jackson Irvine, Stephen Kingsley and Marcus Maddison have all refused short-term deals to stay with the Tigers, and become free agents at the end of the month.
That’s four first-team players Hull will be without, and some Celtic fans may recognise the name of Kingsley after he was linked with the Bhoys last summer.
The Sun on Sunday (4/8/2019; page 67) reported that Celtic were lining up Kingsley to replace Kieran Tierney once he made his move to Arsenal. They ended up signing Greg Taylor from Kilmarnock instead.
Boli Bolingoli was rather unconvincing in his first season at the club, and some may want another left back brought in with Jonny Hayes leaving this summer.
Kingsley is available for free which should be appealing, but he has only managed eight appearances for Hull this season. The 25-year-old has barely made an impact this season, and Hull fans likely aren’t too bothered about him leaving.
His chance of a move to Celtic has likely passed him by now, and even though he is available for nothing, Celtic surely won’t come back in for him this summer.
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