Hull City are braced for Premier League interest in star duo Jacob Greaves and Jaden Philogene, two of the driving forces of a promotion bid that reaches a critical juncture on Wednesday night.
i understands that Everton are among a crop of Premier League clubs monitoring centre-back Greaves, who has also caught the attention of Tottenham and Brentford.
Everton are likely to sell star defender Jarrad Branthwaite this summer and academy graduate Greaves, who was named in the Championship team of the season, would be a tailor-made replacement.
Winger Philogene has been revelation since his £5m move from Aston Villa, who inserted a £15m buy-back option in the transfer which kicks in if Hull are promoted. Crystal Palace have been credited with interest.
But i understands that Hull – who must win against Coventry on Wednesday to maintain their hopes of sneaking into the play-off picture – are minded to reject bids and retain the key members of a group that has been in the promotion race for the majority of this season.
Speaking to i last month executive vice-chairman Tan Kesler set out the Tigers’ position clearly, suggesting any sales would only come at the right price and if a player states a clear desire to move on. He also re-iterated that their financial position is sound and there are “no plans” currently to allow players to leave.
“In the summer do we have to sell? We don’t have to,” he said.
“We don’t plan on selling anyone but we’re responsible. If there’s an offer like there was for Keane Lewis-Potter (who joined Brentford for £16m in 2022) and the player wants to leave and go on the journey earlier than planned then we won’t stand in their way.
“Our club is a family, if an individual wants to join another family and the circumstances are right – and I feel I’m a good negotiator, so it would have to make sense – then they can continue on their journey.
“At this part in our season we have no problems with financial fair play, we will not have any issues in the future, the club is in complete stability and every player we have – even the loan ones – we look at them like they’re with us for the next two to three years.”
It has been a fascinating campaign in East Yorkshire, where expectations have been raised under owner Acun Ilicali, who has re-energised the club’s fanbase and made no secret of his ambition to deliver Premier League football.
A March stumble has checked their progress and left them with no room for error in the top six chase.
With Norwich six points ahead and boasting a superior goal difference they must win tonight’s game in hand over the Canaries and then beat automatic promotion contenders Ipswich at the weekend to take it to the final day.
As part of that, Hull have invested heavily in their squad this season, which has drawn criticism from some of their rivals. Their latest accounts saw a £21m loss and an 86 per cent rise in the wage bill, although that was from a low starting base.
And Kesler says talk of financial fair play impacting on plans this summer and beyond is simply inaccurate.
“I don’t want to mention FFP anymore, we’ve been audited, we’ve announced our financials, we haven’t got points deductions, we haven’t had sanctions, we’ve done everything within the rules,” he said.
“Fans and people couldn’t grasp the fact that we will make mistakes and come back from it very quickly – that’s the chairman’s motto. I’m coming from a background where this is a very easy environment for me.
“While we bought players in like Fabio (Carvalho), Anass (Zaroury) and everyone else, we also moved players on. We weren’t like other teams that can’t move on players but continue to bring them in and so breach the rules.
“Everyone looks at it like the number of players we bought in January, nobody talks about the players we moved out. This is the key, this is the success. We moved some out not with a loss, with a profit or (for) the same amount. That created a circulation for us.”