Hull City transfer news: Arrival of midfielder with inside track on Tim Walter confirmed

The 26-year-old's arrival was expected, given that he watched Tuesday's 2-2 friendly draw with Fiorentina. But then so did West Bromwich Albion's Brandon Thomas-Asante, and he is now expected to join Coventry City after a late change of heart.

Mehlem, though, has signed a two-year contract to become only the Tigers' third signing of the window, having done the relatively straight-forward deals of landing free agent Cody Drameh after he was released by Leeds United and triggering an option in Ryan Giles' loan from Luton Town to make it permanent.

The former German youth international can fulfil any midfield role from the holder to the man behind the striker or out wide, though it was at No 10 he finished the season with Darmstadt.

Mehlem is familiar with Walter, his under-19s assistant coach at Karlsruhe before both went on to bigger and better things. Moving to Darmstadt in 2017 pitted Mehlem against his old coach in Bundesliga 2 with Stuttgart and Hamburg.

Walter prides himself on playing a unique, very fluid and front-footed style of football as Ilicali looks to produce a more entertaining side this season having sacked Liam Rosenior because he felt the fare was not thrilling enough.

Mehlem took his club into last season's top division but they were relegated at the end of it, and the midfielder was ready to move on, unwilling to discuss the club's offer of an extension to the contract due to expire in 2025.

For Hull, this has to be the first of many transfers, with chairman Acun Ilicali having recently promised to "drown" the German in eight or nine transfers having lost 15 players, and four loanees, from the squad which narrowly missed the Championship play-offs in 2023-24.

Ecuador midfielder Oscar Zambrano was left out of LDU Quito this week to travel to England and complete a move, and a bid is thought to have been lodged for Basel's Liam Millar, who starred on loan at Preston North End last season.

Hull are still trying to reach agreement with Wigan Athletic for their centre-back Charlie Hughes and talks are said to have been ongoing with Scott McKenna all summer to make the 27-year-old a more experienced option in that position after his release by Nottingham Forest.

Leicester City's Kasey McAteer, Liverpool's James McConnell and Manchester City's Alex Robertson have all been linked as potential loanees and an experienced goalkeeper is required after the sales of Ryan Allsop and Matt Ingram to Birmingham City and Oxford United respectively.