Hull City recruitment chief opens up on transfer difficulties

The Tigers were under embargo from adding players to their squad up until as recently as the end of this year’s January transfer window. 

The EFL placed the club under embargo for accepting a loan during the Covid-19 pandemic, which left Hull with very little room to improve the squad.

Darnbrough will be hoping for a much more active summer window ahead now that the club has been bought by Turkish businessman Acun Ilicali.

Hull’s transfer chief has opened up on just how difficult a period it was for the club to have these restrictions.

“We got relegated under the Covid pandemic and league finishing, with players not playing due to their contract status, the results weren’t great and we’d gone from the heights of being on the verge of being in the play-offs to being relegated that was tough,” said Darnbrough, via Hull Live.

“To win the league – the club’s first league title in 55 years – and keep that group together [was a real high]. 

“I understood why the loan was taken, but that brought its own challenges in terms of not being able to pay transfer fees, loan fees and being restricted on wages etcetera, it made it tough.”

The club’s financial issues under the ownership of the Allam family meant that Darnbrough had to keep a tightly run ship.

But with Ilicali now on-board, the hope will be that Hull can start to compete in the transfer market more aggressively as they look to climb the Championship table.

Shota Arveladze’s side are currently 20th in the second division, 12 points clear of the relegation zone with six games left to play this season.

Next up for Hull is a trip to the Riverside to face Middlesbrough on April 9.

The recruitment and coaching staff did a good job of earning Hull’s position back in the