Thibaut Vion: Grant McCann reveals real reason behind collapse of French defender's move to Hull City

The 26-year-old French right-back was on the verge of joining the Tigers on Tuesday, but the move fell through at the 11th hour.

In an interview with his native media, the former Metz and Porto defender claimed that he "did not understand" why the Championship strugglers had decided to pull the plug on an arrangement that had been agreed two weeks previous, though City's head coach has now moved to clarify the situation.

“It’s very simple, really," McCann said.

"We did speak to Thibaut. We had agreed a contract with him. He was met in London by the head of medical, he did a medical, he was put on a train to go to Hull. The club booked him in a very nice hotel in Beverley, him and his agent.

“He met me on the training ground yesterday [Tuesday]. I had a chat with him, but in the mean-time, the medical department was looking at his medical.

“So the long and short of it is that we want robust players, we want people here fit and available for 75-80 per cent of the games and Thibaut wasn’t that.

“He’s a really nice kid, a lovely boy, but unfortunately he just failed his medical.”

Vion, a team-mate of Paul Pogba in France's under-20s' World Cup-winning side of 2013, has spent the past three seasons playing second-tier football in his homeland for Chamois Niortais.

Now a free agent, he was expected to fill the void at the KCOM left by the departure of former club captain Eric Lichaj, who exited Hull upon the expiry of his contract on June 30.

It was, however, not to be, leaving Vion unhappy about the way he was allegedly treated by City.

"Everything was OK for two weeks, it was stalled, and nothing went as expected," he told France Football (as translated by Google.)

"The reception was not worthy of a club which was not so long ago in the Premier League.

“No one at the station, no one at the club to receive us, not even the minimum.

"We take a nice slap in the face, that's for sure. Especially since we had prepared everything with my family, the move, we had everything planned.

"What is annoying is precisely that we do not know. We do not understand.

"But what is done is done. Yesterday I was very upset, today I look forward."

Vion was however very positive about his meeting with Tigers chief McCann.

"Finally, I saw the coach, and with him, it went really well,” Vion added.

"He really wanted me, we even had to meet Friday to talk about tactics. It's really the only positive thing in this story, my meeting with him. It was after that it spoiled.

“When we saw the managers, what they proposed had nothing to do with what was planned, especially over the duration of the contract, but not only.

"Inevitably, it cools. We tried to negotiate but since everything had changed, we finally left."