Hull City are set to meet their deadline to raise £6m with the sale of two key players from last season, and will be able to start spending again from Wednesday.

Forward Kyle Joseph is set to join Middlesbrough for £5m, with Ivor Pandur part of a goalkeeping swap with Rangers for Jack Butland and £6m.

Financial fair play regulations have unwittingly created an odd situation whereby the Premier League side have to bring in £6m before midnight on Tuesday to meet Football League regulations, but can spend like a top-flight club the next day.

Under the Football League's profit and sustainability rules, clubs are only allowed to lose £39m over any three-year accounting period.

PROFIT: Hull City are set to double their money on Kyle Joseph (Image: Tony King/Getty Images)

placeholder image — PROFIT: Hull City are set to double their money on Kyle Joseph (Image: Tony King/Getty Images)

As Hull were in the Football League for 2025-26, they have to ensure they do not overspend for the three years starting in July 2023. As of the end of last season they were due to go over by £6m.

The loss covers a wide range of football spending, but transfer fees and player wages are by far the biggest.

The £11m combined for Joseph and Pandur does not all go into that pot, only the £7m profits made on them.

It used to be that Premier League clubs were not penalised for breaking Football League spending rules and vice-versa, but after the governing bodies' frustrations at Leicester City evading punishment as they yo-yoed between the leagues, there is now a reciprocal agreement.

KEY FIGURE: But promotion-winning Croatian goalkeeper Ivor Pandur will be sacrificed too (Image: Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images)

Overspending could have lead to a fine or points deduction, depending on the level of transgression.

Hull were banned from buying players or paying loan fees for them last season after being late with payments 12 months ago.

Once the slate is wiped clean on Tuesday night, Hull will be free to tuck into the nine-figure amount they can bank on from playing in next season's top-flight, and their ambitious owner Acun Ilicali is invariably as aggressive in the transfer market as he is allowed to be.

Hull paid £2.5m for Joseph from Blackpool in January 2025. The Merseysider was a horses for courses selection last season, making 27 Championship starts, but kicked off the second leg of the play-off semi-final at Millwall, only to pick up an injury that ruled him out of the final.

He scored eight goals last season and despite interest from Millwall, the club his dad supports, he is set for a move to Teesside.

Pandur was Hull's player of the season in 2024-25 and although he did not maintain the same levels last term, he only missed one league game. He is currently at the World Cup with Croatia, though he is yet to make his senior international debut.

Hull bought him from Fortuna Sittard for £1.5m in January 2024 and Ilicali is a big fan, so much so his anger at the goalkeeper not making his debut that season was one factor in Liam Rosenior's sacking as manager.

Hull were anyway looking for a goalkeeper to challenge him, so Butland is not guaranteed to be first choice but he brings plenty of experience.

Now 33, he was England's youngest goalkeeper when he made his debut as a 19-year-old, but only won eight more caps.

He had loans at Barnsley and Leeds United as an up-and-coming goalkeeper, and at Manchester United as an experienced pair of safe hands before joining Rangers in 2023. He made over 100 appearances at Ibrox but is understood to be keen on a return to England.