Hull City owner Ehab Allam hopeful sale of club will go through - but can’t say when

The hope had been that the Turkish businessman would have the keys by Christmas, but that has proved beyond him. The next deadline of note is Monday, when the Football League’s transfer window effectively opens.

Having seen their form improve considerably in recent weeks, the Tigers are not in desperate need of reinforcements and their biggest issue will be whether they can keep prize assets, most notably Keane Lewis-Potter, who has been attracting Premier League attention from the likes of West Ham United and Leicester City.

“We’re still fairly confident of progressing the deal to a conclusion,” said Allam, who has seen proposed takeovers of the club fall through before. “We’ve reached the holiday period now so there’s a slight delay in that process.

“I am not on holiday at this time but other people are unfortunately. I’m still working hard to get the deal done.”

Ilicali has been in a period of exclusivity with the Allam family, owners since December 2010, for two months. As well as reaching agreement with them, the media tycoon must also come through the league’s owners and director’s test.

“That’s out of my hands so I can’t set dates or an expectation,” said Allam when asked how long that might take.

Ilicali has identified Tan Kesler, a registered agent with experience of working for the Turkish Football Federation, as his director of football. It would make no sense for him not to be heavily involved in the January transfer business, currently overseen by head of recruitment Lee Darnbrough.

Hull are under a transfer embargo because of money borrowed from the league to help them through the Covid-19 pandemic and clearing that debt to give Kesler a freer hand will be an important part of the process.

There is also the question of head coach, Grant McCann. The Northern Irishman who oversaw the 2020 relegation and 2021 League One title win is unpopular with supporters and when the process began it seemed inevitable he would lose his job but he has muddied the waters with four straight wins then two draws to lift the club out of the relegation zone before a narrow and controversial defeat at Nottingham Forest before Christmas.