What s happening at Hull City? Financial crisis, intrigues and a club on the edge

On the final day of June, media mogul and Hull City owner Acun Ilıcalı reveled in the spotlight at the MKM Stadium. Hours after unveiling new head coach Sergej Jakirovic, Ilıcalı hosted a Q&A session for a couple of hundred eager fans. The evening concluded with a communal rendition of "Can't Help Falling in Love," yet one early answer from the owner continues to haunt the faithful. "I said one time I was open to outside investment, but it was understood like we have financial problems," he declared, responding to a fan's query about sharing the ownership burden. "It is not like we have financial problems."

Just three nights later, that assertion spectacularly unraveled. The English Football League (EFL) informed Hull City that their failure to meet transfer payment obligations would result in a severe penalty: a ban on spending money on new players until January 2027. Hull swiftly announced their intention to appeal last Friday, attributing the issue to misunderstandings over a £1 million sum owed to Aston Villa for the January loan of Louie Barry. However, beyond this specific incident, deep-seated concerns are bubbling regarding the club’s financial health in the Championship.

The Athletic has now revealed a worrying financial landscape:

Hull faces future commitments of almost £22 million to other clubs for players signed under Ilıcalı, as of the end of May.A debt of close to £3 million is still owed to former owner Ehab Allam.Several clubs have been approached with requests to delay transfer payments.Some suppliers have been forced to pursue the club for outstanding money.

Despite Hull's persistent claims of financial strength ahead of the new Championship season, major cracks are visibly appearing in Ilıcalı’s tenure. Given the club only narrowly avoided relegation last season on goal difference, an uphill battle awaits if their EFL appeal proves unsuccessful.

Ilıcalı's reign: Grand ambitions and mounting liabilities

Ilıcalı, a charismatic 56-year-old Turkish media mogul and TV presenter, has been one of the EFL’s most colorful owners during his three-and-a-half years in English football. A familiar face at Hull’s home and away games, he's also known for visiting local pubs on matchdays, soaking in the adulation of supporters. His popularity has been immense, with hundreds of fans benefiting from free coach travel to away games and even holidays in Turkey. Another 30 loyal members are set to join the club for their week-long training camp this Sunday.

Ilıcalı’s shrewd handling of public relations is evident, as is his unwavering ambition to return Premier League football to East Yorkshire for the first time since 2017. This aspiration has driven significant spending, and as the EFL has clearly noted, substantial liabilities. Financial documents obtained by The Athletic, dated the end of May, reveal that Hull still carries £21.8 million in future transfer commitments. While structuring payments over time is a common practice, Hull’s situation is made concerning by the fact that they have already settled large upfront fees, totaling close to £30 million, for key signings like Jacob Greaves (from Ipswich Town) and Jaden Philogene (re-signed from Aston Villa). Although these deals may still include future performance-based contingencies, Hull's overall transfer balance remains uncomfortably high for a Championship club, especially one without parachute payments from the Premier League. No other club outside of parachute payments detailed transfer debts of this magnitude in their most recent accounting year.

The club’s recruitment strategy leading into the 2024-25 season proved largely disastrous. A squad that had narrowly missed the Championship play-offs under Liam Rosenior (sacked two days after the 2023-24 season ended) was expensively rebuilt. Yet, it spent the entire season flirting with a return to League One, first under German head coach Tim Walter and then Ruben Selles. Both Walter and Selles were subsequently sacked by Ilıcalı, who has now dispensed with three managers in just 12 months. These expensive managerial changes compounded a soaring cost base, with the players’ wage bill climbing from £8.6 million in 2021-22 to £27.4 million last season—comfortably exceeding their last published revenues of £21.4 million in 2023-24. High-profile signings like Mohamed Baloumi (£4.5 million from Farense), Eliot Matazo (£3.5 million from Monaco), Charlie Hughes (£3.5 million from Wigan), and Abu Kamara (£3 million from Norwich) significantly inflated the club’s wage bill.

The £1m flashpoint and embargoes

Ilıcalı had, until recently, been able to absorb these escalating costs. However, failing to meet obligations over Louie Barry’s loan from Aston Villa proved to be a critical misstep. Hull owed Villa £1 million, and neglecting to repay this within 30 days triggered severe EFL action. The loan agreement, including wages and a fee, was in the region of £1.5 million, yet Barry made just four appearances for the club.

Initially, a transfer embargo was placed on Hull, followed by a more damaging three-window registration limit, meaning the club, like Sheffield Wednesday, cannot pay money for permanent or loan signings until January 2027. This is a punitive measure the EFL typically implements to safeguard a club’s long-term financial health. "Perhaps there were some administrative errors, but I am sure the EFL will be understanding of our appeal, and we are confident in our case,” Ilıcalı attempted to reassure fans in an open letter published on the club’s website on Tuesday.

While Hull settled the debt to Villa at the end of last week, lifting that specific embargo, another swiftly followed. Money owed to Manchester City for the loan of defender Finley Burns was overdue, reinstating the embargo over the weekend. This too was reportedly settled by Monday, lifting the transfer embargo once again. Ilıcalı stated, “We intended to use the proceeds of a player sale to settle this fee, and as soon as the EFL told us this wasn’t possible, due to reasons not related to us, we made the payment immediately to end the matter.”

Behind the scenes: Cash flow concerns and the 'Brain Team'

Despite Hull’s claims of “administrative errors” for both recent payment delays, sources familiar with the club’s day-to-day operations, who spoke anonymously to protect their working relationships, remain deeply concerned. Cash flow issues are reportedly common, with all players made to wait 48 hours for their salaries in the week before the final Championship game of the season. Although the payment arrived before the month's end (thus not counting as "late"), club correspondence attributed the delay to an “overseas payment not yet being cleared into the club’s account.”

The Athletic has also learned that several suppliers, including a long-standing partner, have had to chase the club for payments this summer. Furthermore, in the past month, Hull has approached other clubs to request changes to agreed payment terms, a clear sign of efforts to improve short-term cash flow. Hull maintains this issue stemmed from a delayed scheduled payment for a player sale, with Ilıcalı now personally covering the shortfall to rectify matters “as soon as possible.”

A surprising revelation is the lingering debt to the Allam family, Hull’s former owners, despite Ilıcalı’s purchase of the club in January 2022. As part of that deal, Ehab Allam, the former chairman and son of the late Assem Allam, is owed money from add-ons on players sold under their ownership. This includes England winger Jarrod Bowen, who left Hull for West Ham United two years before Ilıcalı’s arrival. Due to various add-ons (goals, international caps), West Ham's commitment has increased by £3 million. However, very little of this sum has been passed on to Ehab Allam. This goes against the agreed payment terms, yet Allam has not yet pushed the issue, effectively serving as an interest-free loan for the club.

This debt could potentially climb higher this summer if Andy Robertson, whose £8 million move to Liverpool in 2017 included a sell-on clause, moves clubs for a fee exceeding that amount amidst interest from Atletico Madrid. Ehab Allam declined to comment, while Hull stated that "the terms of the sale of the club are confidential" and that a "very positive working relationship" exists with the former owner.

Within Hull City, strategic decisions on recruitment are made by a small, trusted group dubbed the ‘Brain Team’. This currently includes sporting director Jared Dublin, head of recruitment Martin Hodge, and board member Mustapha Yokes. However, the past 12 months have seen dramatic changes to Ilıcalı’s inner circle. Vice chairman Tan Kesler abruptly departed last October, followed by Beri Pardo, who left his position as head of performance strategy without an official announcement. Most curiously, Merthan Acil, once described by Ilıcalı as one of his "most important companions" and an "architect" of his "dream squad" in an October 2023 Instagram post, also made a sudden exit. Acil, a former low-level footballer and relative of Ilıcalı's former wife, had been on Hull’s payroll until this spring. His departure coincided with a warrant issued for his arrest in Turkey as part of a major corruption investigation involving his company, Creative Medya. Local reports suggested Acil was detained in March 2025. Hull stated: “The moment we learned (Acil) was involved with another business, we parted ways with him, as per our company policy.” Neither Hull nor Ilıcalı have publicly acknowledged Acil’s departure from the club, but this overhaul of the 'Brain Team' mirrors the frequent squad transformations seen year after year.

Over the past three seasons, Hull has signed a staggering 60 players, with limited success stories. This period saw misfortune, with Mataza, Balloumi, and Liam Miller all suffering ACL injuries. There was also a backfired gamble with the loan of Oscar Zambrano, whose doping charge in October (of which Hull was aware of the suspension threat) led him to miss most of the season. Consequently, a total of 37 players featured in the club’s 46 Championship games in an underwhelming season that concluded with Hull only securing survival on the final day, with a draw at Portsmouth condemning Luton to relegation instead.

Ilıcalı’s impatience has been a recurring theme, leading to Selles suffering the same fate as Rosenior 12 months prior. Despite noted progress under both, it wasn't enough for the owner, who last month appointed Sergej Jakirovic, formerly of Dinamo Zagreb and Kayserispor, as his next head coach. Ilıcalı had initially sparked public backlash by targeting former Turkey international Emre Belozoglu, despite his 2014 suspended prison sentence for a racial slur. Ilıcalı publicly defended Emre, controversially claiming "in Turkey, there is no racism," but ultimately opted for Jakirovic. The 44-year-old Bosnian is now the third head coach appointed by Ilıcalı (after Shota Arveladze and Tim Walter) with no prior experience in English football.

The self-styled ‘Brain Team’ has already begun rebuilding for next season without Jakirovic, securing Gustavo Puerta’s loan from Bayer Leverkusen into a permanent deal and signing Reda Laalaoui from Rabat. However, it remains uncertain if these cash deals will be registered by the EFL given the club was under embargo on July 1st. Both players are currently in pre-season training, but their official registrations hinge on the success of Hull’s ongoing appeal to the EFL.

Ilıcalı maintains his deep commitment to Hull, with a Sky Sports documentary crew now following his every move this season. He has made social media promises to usher in good times, now that Hull ostensibly has his full attention after he spent last year juggling club duties with a board membership at his childhood club, Turkish giants Fenerbahce – even playing a role in convincing Jose Mourinho to join Turkey’s Super Lig last summer.

There's an implicit acknowledgment that Hull had drifted during this period, coupled with the first murmurs that Ilıcalı might be open to selling his stake in the Championship club. Acun Medya, Ilıcalı’s media company and the official owners of Hull, has held exploratory talks regarding a potential sale. An experienced football financier has also been involved in negotiations on behalf of at least one interested party. While there is no current desperation to sell, there is a clear willingness to listen to offers for a club bought for £20 million three years ago. Any prospective sale will ultimately hinge on Ilıcalı’s stance regarding the substantial £60 million debt owed to Acun Medya by the club itself. Notably, Hull City does not own its home, the MKM Stadium, which was built by Hull City Council in 2002 and is still operated and owned by the local authority.

A club spokesperson affirmed, “Acun Medya isn’t actively looking to sell the club, but naturally there is huge demand for English football clubs, so there will always be interest from other parties, especially after the investment we have put into the club. Our chairman told fans the club is losing money and he is supporting when required. The club will always have his full backing whenever it needs it.”

Hull's most pressing problems are immediate. If they fail to lift the EFL's spending restrictions, their prospects look bleak. A squad that scored only 44 goals last season—the lowest in the division—is in desperate need of attacking reinforcements. The danger is that only free transfers and loans will be permitted before the transfer window closes on September 1st. While Ilıcalı might be ready to push forward with Jakirovic this season, the EFL currently sees deep-seated problems that, from their perspective, simply cannot go unchecked.