Hull’s Eric Lichaj was dubbed ‘phenomenal’ in new role so why did Forest sell him?

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Hull City signed Eric Lichaj from Nottingham Forest last summer.

Hull City manager Nigel Adkins claimed former Nottingham Forest man Eric Lichaj was phenomenal at centre-back during his side’s 2-0 win over Stoke City on Saturday, the Hull Daily Mail reports.

“He’s usually a full-back, we’ve asked to play in the middle and I thought he was phenomenal. His defensive attributes were excellent and we’ve kept a great clean sheet,” Adkins said of Lichaj.

Hull signed the American international from Forest on a two-year deal last summer for an undisclosed fee.

Lichaj is predominantly a full-back, and he made over 180 appearances in all competitions for Forest after signing from fellow Championship side Aston Villa back in 2013.

The 30-year-old was a regular at the City Ground, but he fell out of favour with former manager Aitor Karanka and made only a handful of appearances towards the end of last season.

Hull took the opportunity to sign him, and their recent shortage in central defence has prompted boss Adkins to play Lichaj at centre-back on occasions this term and he has thrived.

Against Stoke, Lichaj made nine clearances – more than any other player on the pitch – while showing calmness in possession with a team-high average 80.7% pass-accuracy rate.

Forest were short on centre-backs last summer and ended up bringing in Michal Dawson and Michael Hefele. Most recently in the January transfer window, the Reds also added Yohan Benalouane and Alexander Milosevic.

As Lichaj continues to perform well at Hull while Forest, two places lower in the table, seek to improve their defence, perhaps the Reds will look back on their decision last summer with some regret.