Deal to buy Hull City from Allam family completed, according to reports in Turkey

Reports in Turkey say Avul Illicali has completed his takeover of Hull City.

The Turkish businessman will reportedly pay £30m for the Championship club, with another £20m if the club was promoted to the Premier League, although the timescale for that is unclear.

At the moment Hull are more likely to leave the Championship in the opposite direction, sat in the bottom three of a division they were relegated from in 2019-20 with increasing pressure on the manager.

Egyptian owner Assem Allam bought the club in December 2010, though has increasingly left control of it in the hands of his son Ehab.

Under the Allams a club that had never appeared in the top flight until 2008 had three Premier League seasons, took their first FA Cup final to extra-time, and played in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League as a result.

However, his stewardship of the club has been hugely unpopular, the low point his failed attempts to drop the name Hull City and replace it with Hull Tigers. Calls for the club's owners to leave have been a regular feature of games this season.

Allam has been trying to sell the club since 2014, but loaning the club £39.5m according to the latest accounts has made it more difficult.

Coach Grant McCann is also unpopular with supporters despite winning the League One title last season, and one of Illicali's first decisions will have to be whether to back him with funds in the January transfer window, or sack him.

If McCann were to go, it would be no surprise were he were replaced with a Turkish manager, as Illicali wants the club to showcase his country.

"I want to fly the flag of our country in England with the success of Hull City," he said when news of interest became public.

"I hope that Hull City will consist of Turkish people, from their coaches to certain players in the future. My goal is to create a team that makes a sound in the world."