Hull City ended a historic summer transfer window after completing 18 signings in total, with six of those players arriving on deadline day.
After investing around $204.2 million, according to Transfermarkt estimates, expectations surrounding the Tigers have obviously grown. However, all of these players have already received a warning from the team’s coaching staff.
Assistant manager Dean Holden revealed this, telling Sky Sports that the new signings already know they have to fight to earn a place in the starting XI.
Holden’s comments refer to the fact that the season has already started, with two matchdays played: a 2-0 victory over Manchester United, followed by a 1-0 win over Coventry City. Some players obviously already have more experience and are more adapted to manager Sergej Jakirović’s system.
“They know they have to battle just to get in the starting XI because of the way the team has started,” Holden said.
Hull City’s Assistant Manager Highlights Integration Challenge for New Signings
The Tigers assistant manager said: “There’s a real great spirit in the dressing room, so we just want to make sure that with the new guys, we can integrate them as quickly as we can.”
Holden highlighted that if you consider the players who featured in the first two Premier League matches, there were only three new signings, specifically in the match against Manchester United, and a few more against Coventry, so he emphasized the importance of integrating the new players.
“It’s giving us sleepless nights at the moment. In fairness, when you look at the league games we’ve had, I think in the first game there were only three new signings in that team, so eight lads that got us there from last season. Similar on Saturday at Coventry. It will just be about integrating them.”
“A lot of the players we’ve brought in are either not up to speed, or they’ve got little niggles and haven’t had much of a pre-season. Sergej is very much around the healthy ones, as he called them, and the ones that are doing the business.”
Frankly, it makes a lot of sense, and nobody questions the need to adapt the new players ahead of the upcoming matches because they simply have not had enough time yet to be starters.
However, it is also a strong message from the coaching staff to the squad, making it clear they have to earn their place, regardless of what they have done in the past. That’s the way to go, and if Hull City wants to stay in the Premier League, they have to continue cultivating that culture.
Hull City Players Handed Clear Warning From Manager