Daily transfer rumours from the press as Hull City prepare for life in the Premier League.
Today's Sun picks up on yesterday's news that James Chester will sign a long-term deal with Hull City.
The Currant Bun reckons Aston Villa and Newcastle United were both prepared to pay £3m for the former Manchester United defender after he rejected two contract offers from the Tigers, before a middle ground was found this week.
It also claims Villa could pick up a shortfall in Darren Bent's wages, if a cut-price deal were to be agreed with City, Newcastle or Fulham. Bent earns £65,000 a week, but an offer of £50,000 could be enough to secure his services - with Villa making up the rest in the form of a golden handshake.
The Mirror, meanwhile, is behind the times with its claim a deal for Curtis Davies could be scuppered because City are playing hardball over a Jack Hobbs switch. As we report today, Davies is due at the KC Stadium on Monday to thrash out personal terms.
There's plenty of speculation this morning about former Tigers striker Jozy Altidore. The £5m-rated American international is wanted by Sunderland - with Fulham, Southampton, Cardiff, Norwich and Celtic also interested.
Whilst there's no suggestion Altidore is in line for a return to the KC, he may well be worth a look if Bruce fails to land his prime strike targets. The AZ Alkmaar man didn't really cut the mustard last time out in the Premier League, but, now older and wiser, he has been brilliant in the Dutch Eredivision, where he scored 31 goals last season.
Talking of prime targets, the Lancashire Telegraph mirrors our own Phil Buckingham today as it reports no further progress has been made in City's chase for Burnley striker Charlie Austin. The Tigers and Clarets have so far failed to agree a fee for the 24-year-old.
Here's Clarets boss Sean Dyche talking to the Burnley Express about the Austin move:
Dyche told the Express: "If the number we receive is high enough then it's money that can be put in to the club to build.
"That doesn't mean to say he's definitely going to go of course because the club is sensible enough to make sure that the move is right and if he does go it's well worth its while for the club.
"It's not about official approaches at this stage. There's been casual conversation but nothing major at the moment. It's getting hotter let's say."Crazy Twitter talk: Steve Bruce is routinely linked with any Sunderland player on the market and today's name in the hat is Lee Cattermole. Paulo DiCanio has decided the 25-year-old midfielder is surplus to requirements. Talk on Twitter is Bruce should make a move for combative Catt - IF he feels he can straighten out a poor disciplinary record.June 21
Hull City could face a test of Steve Bruce's pulling power if reports linking them again to starlet Abdisalam Ibrahim are accurate.
City are one of six clubs now being linked to the Manchester City player, dubbed the new Patrick Viera.
According to the Daily Star, Everton have joined City, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Swansea and Sunderland in the race to sign the youngster, who is expected to be surplus to Man City's high-level requirements next season.
Ibrahim was born in Somalia but moved to Norway as a child and has played for his adoptive country at under-21 level. He's been on Man City's books for six years, including a loan spell at Norwegian outfit Stromsgodset.
Reports today claim Bruce has a £6m offer on the table for Gent striker Ilombe Mboyo, a player our reporter Phil Buckingham picked out as a possible target yesterday. The Daily Star says Bruce tracked the player for two months after a planned move from Belgium to Norwich collapsed over personal terms at the turn of the year.
Meanwhile, Birmingham have accepted the inevitable and will allow their player of the year Curtis Davies to talk to the Tigers.
The Birmingham Mail reports this morning that it took three bids for the Blues to finally give the deal the green light. Back in January, the club turned down offers from Norwich and Stoke for Davies, but are now in need of the cash. Manager Lee Clark is resigned to losing Davies but the money generated from his sale will help free up funds for other moves.
As reported in the Mail today, a deal to bring Davies to City appears imminent.
The Lancashire Telegraph says Burnley are hoping to hold out for more money for Charlie Austin.
As reported, the Clarets released a statement yesterday evening claiming no club had yet reached their valuation of Austin.
Burnley have rejected an offer from City in the region of £3.5m and a number of clubs are understood to have enquired about the 23-year-old.
However, as Phil Buckingham reports today, City remain confident an agreement of around £4m can be reached.
Oldham Athletic may be interested in taking City goalkeeper Mark Oxley on loan, according to the Oldham Evening Chronicle.Crazy twitter talk? ... How about ex-Manchester City and current Aston Villa midfielder Stephen Ireland?. He's never quite settled since leaving Manchester and an exit could be possible. Has attracted some controversy though. Roberto Mancini once said of him: "Stephen is a fantastic player…if he can change his head."June 20
There's a lot of chatter out there about Gent striker Ilombe Mboyo and a possible move to Hull City.
Seems this one has more truth in it than the previous Belgian striker linked to City, Anderlecht's Dieumerci Mbokani, a couple of weeks ago.
Mboyo has turned Steve Bruce's head as the City boss looks for a new striking set up (just don't look at the penalty miss on YouTube). But now a move by Anderlecht to sign Mboyo, reported in the Belgian press, seems to have scuppered a possible deal. Ironically Anderlecht want someone to replace the departing Mbokani.
An easy move to Belgian champions Anderlecht and the prospect of Champions League football looks too big a draw for Mboyo, so Bruce is likely to concentrate on other targets. Not dead in the water yet though.
Other striking options, according to reports, include Carlton Cole, who the Sun says is now in talks with Hull City about a move. Cole spent seven years with West Ham and managed to reach 10 goals in two of his Premier League seasons and 15 when West Ham dropped into the Championship. QPR are also in the frame, with Cole keen to stay in London.
Meanwhile, the Daily Mirror, Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph report that Birmingham defender Curtis Davies is as good as on his way to Hull after a £2.25m fee was agreed between the clubs. But one final hurdle may remain - the switch of City defender Jack Hobbs. Hobbs' move may be complicated by his new Premier League wage packet, triggered by promotion.
The Scottish press always entertain – remember the "Hull's good if you're a fisherman" interview with Celtic legend Bertie Auld? Now another Celtic favourite has joined in.
Former captain Tom Boyd makes some, er, interesting comments on Hull City target Gary Hooper in the Scottish Express.
Boyd, who still holds influence at Celtic, insists Hooper should stay at Celtic, because the Premier League isn't good enough. "I watched a lot of Premier League games last year and even the top teams were pretty poor," says Boyd, perhaps ignoring some obvious raised eye-brows about the current state of Scottish football.
He says Hooper would be better staying in Scotland to play for Celtic in the Champions League.
Boyd said: "Financially the players would obviously get a massive boost by moving to England. But in terms of playing for a massive club like Celtic, playing on the biggest stage in the Champions League – the best competition in football – there's no contest."
That may be the case but Celtic don't qualify automatically for the Champions League. Last season they played distinctly unglamorous Helsinki and Helsingborgs before actually qualifying. And this season they will have a third qualifying tie to negotiate before making the League proper. By the time Celtic make it through - if they make it through - Hull City will have already played Chelsea and Man City in the Premier League.
Mind you Boyd also believes Celtic midfielder Victor Wanyama is worth £25m, two years after the promising player was bought by Celtic for £900,000.
As reported, Hooper is one of Bruce's two top strike targets with Burnley's Charlie Austin.
As our man Phil Buckingham reports today, the Tigers are closing in on Austin's signature, with the two clubs understood to be just £500,000 apart in the valuations of the 24-year-old hotshot.
The Lancashire Telegraph reports this morning that Burnley are considering interest from a number of other clubs - but a deal looks likely by the end of the week.
City are also expected to complete a £1.8m deal for former Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor from Besiktas.June 19
Goalkeepers are like buses: wait seasons for one to come along and then half a dozen are queuing up at the same time.
The Irish Independent today reports that Hull City are monitoring Ireland goalkeeper David Forde as they weigh up options as the Kasper Schmeichel deal starts to fall apart. We had reported the link yesterday but the Independent goes further, stating Steve Bruce was "hugely impressed by Forde's form" for both Millwall and Ireland last season.
However, our suspicion is a deal to bring Allan McGregor to the KC is almost done. The keeper is on holiday but talks have been on-going and he fits the bill for Bruce. He certainly won't be staying in Turkey and City are his favoured option.
Our Hull City reporter Phil Buckingham understands the Tigers have finally given up on Kasper Schmeichel after one final attempt to bring him to the KC earlier this week.
Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph usually knows its figures. It reports today that City would have to raise £8m to persuade Aston Villa to part with Darren Bent. Villa are happy for the striker to leave but want to recoup a chunk of the £18m (!) they paid for Bent back in 2011. On top of wages of around £65,000 a week, that option looks way beyond what City would be happy to pay.
Sorry folks, no crazy twitter talk today as the tweets are too stacked with fixtures! But here's some reassuring news for Steve Bruce as the new season looms. He's listed as a 33/1 shot to lose his job in the new season, a huge vote of confidence from the bookies reflecting his popularity with the owners and fans at City. That places him alongside West Brom's Steve Clarke and Liverpool's Brendan Rodgers.
Compare that to poor Alan Pardew at Newcastle who is 2/1 to leave Newcastle before the season even starts.
