Hull have Long bid accepted as Jelavic steps up for Tigers

Croatian international Jelavic, 28, has signed a three-and-a-half year contract after joining in a deal worth up to £7.5m. City have shelved out an initial £6.5m to sign the Everton striker – and will pay another £1m if they stay up this season.

The fee comfortably surpasses the £5.25m paid out to sign Tom Huddlestone from Tottenham Hotspur in August, with club owner Assem Allam having now sanctioned a £6.5m move for long-time target Long, 26.

Hull are locked in negotiations with Baggies sporting and technical director Richard Garlick and if discussions reach a successful conclusion, Long could even join Jelavic in the club’s ranks ahead of Bruce’s return to old club Norwich with Hull on Saturday.

Long is out of contract at the Hawthorns in the summer and despite having a year’s option, Albion appear to be ready to cash in on the player.

West Brom accepted the offer on Thursday morning with a statement on the Hull website reading: “The club has this morning agreed a fee with West Bromwich Albion for striker Shane Long, and will now enter talks with the striker over personal terms.”

Goalscoring has been the one Achilles heel for Hull in an otherwise exemplary 2013-14 campaign and the addition of Jelavic, despite his recent barren return at Everton, adds potency to their strikeforce.

On Jelavic, who scored 21 goals in his two years at Goodison Park, Bruce said: “Nikica is big, strong and powerful and he has proved he can score goals at this level.

“He is a striker I have liked for a while now and I am delighted we have got him.

“We are spending a lot of money on top-quality players and it’s another step up the ladder for Hull.”

Speaking about his move, Jelavic added: “It’s a good club and we have a good squad. We talked a little bit, but it didn’t take long to realise that it was right for me.

“It’s a newly-promoted club, but I can see straightaway that there is a lot of ambition here within the club and I hope that we can build on our start to the season and become a really strong Premier League team over the coming years.”

One player expected to seal his departure from Hull today is forward Aaron Mclean, close to joining Bradford City, with the 30-year-old being the club’s number one target after the exit of Nahki Wells to Huddersfield Town.

Meanwhile, the Bantams have extended the contract of ex-Middlesbrough defender Matthew Bates for the rest of the season.

While Hull have splashed out the cash to land Jelavic, whose arrival could be followed by Long, it has emerged that Yorkshire rivals Leeds United saw their proposed move to sign Ashley Barnes from Championship rivals Brighton blocked by senior officials at club owner Gulf Finance House.

Due to the firm’s reluctance to sign off the six-figure transfer, the striker – a top transfer target of manager Brian McDermott – instead elected to join Burnley.

Funds to pay Albion a fee of £500,000 up front were seemingly in place to help bring Barnes to Yorkshire, only for Gulf Finance House, parent company of United majority shareholder GFH Capital, to object.

Leeds are now being linked with a move for Reading’s former Rotherham United marksman Adam Le Fondre.

Meanwhile, Championship strugglers Barnsley are expected to announce the permanent signing of Liam Lawrence today after he underwent a medical yesterday.

The Reds remain in the market for a striker to boost their goalscoring options, while two or three fringe players could leave by the weekend, according to chief executive Ben Mansford.

The future of a couple of senior squad players is also likely to be finalised, with Jim McNulty likely to leave the club this transfer window, with the Reds also receiving interest in David Perkins and striker Jason Scotland.

Scotland, out of contract in June, has been the subject of interest from north of the border, including Hibernian and St Johnstone and the club will allow him to leave to head to the SPL, where he has played before with his wife also hailing from Scotland.

Several striking targets have been linked with the Reds, including Leroy Lita and Leon Clarke.

The latter is rumoured to have also interested Sheffield United, but both the Blades and the Reds have flatly denied the speculation and say the forward is not on their radar.

Huddersfield have followed up the club record signing of Wells with the capture of Kidderminster FA Cup hero Joe Lolley for an undisclosed fee.

Lolley, 21, smashed a stunning winner as the sole non-league survivors in the competition sank League One side Peterborough 3-2 on Tuesday night to book a glamour fourth-round tie at Premier League Sunderland.

The striker, who has hit 11 goals this term, has signed a two-and-a-half year deal with the option of a further year.

Town chief Mark Robins said: “He’s a promising talent and highly sought-after, so we’re delighted to add Joe to our squad at last.”