How Hull City felt about signing Fabio Carvalho from Brentford in January as massive blow is confirmed | OneFootball

The Tigers had considered reuniting with the Portuguese playmaker for a second loan spell

Hull City had explored the possibility of reuniting with former loan favourite Fabio Carvalho, before a crushing ACL blow recently ended the Brentford playmaker's season.

That is according to local publication, Hull Live, with the Tigers looking towards the second transfer window of Sergej Jakirovic's relatively successful start to life at the MKM Stadium after departing Turkish Süper Lig side, Kayserispor, at the end of last season.

Recent developments in East Yorkshire have certainly been well-documented, as Hull have emerged as one of many good or bad surprise packages in the early months of the current Championship season, with locals and opposition supporters certainly getting value for money in terms of the goal returns in matches involving the Bosnian's somewhat new-look outfit after he replaced Ruben Selles in pre-season.

Hull were involved in yet another pulsating encounter away to Queens Park Rangers on Saturday following the final international break of the calendar year. But, after emerging 3-2 victors against Portsmouth at the MKM Stadium on November 8th, Jakirovic was left immensely frustrated coming away from West London as his team surrendered a 1-0 and 2-1 advantage at various points thanks to goals from Joe Gelhardt and Enis Destan, with Ilias Chair, Jimmy Dunne and Rumarn Burrell doing enough for the points to remain in the capital.

The result wasn't enough for City to fall outside the play-off places though, as they continue to defy the expectations placed on them in pre-season after being hit with a transfer fee restriction across the summer and the upcoming window.

Therefore, the very thought of entertaining a second stint in Yorkshire for Carvalho was deemed outlandish by some, although such prospects have already concluded in rather devastating fashion.

Hull City hoped to strike reunion with Fabio Carvalho prior to serious ACL injury for Brentford attacker

At the beginning of the month, Carvalho's immediate future at the Gtech Community Stadium was plunged into doubt amid reports that the Portuguese was set for talks with Bees boss and former Hull midfielder, Keith Andrews, after a lack of regular minutes in the early weeks of the Premier League season.

Just days beforehand, Hull's extremely vocal owner, Acun Ilicali, admitted in his latest Q&A with supporters at the MKM Stadium, that he remains in contact with the former Fulham and Liverpool ace, who scored nine times in just 20 Championship appearances for the Tigers in the second half of the 2023/24 campaign, although a seventh-place finish wasn't enough to save Liam Rosenior's job at the time.

Rosenior's current side, RC Strasbourg, VfB Stuttgart and Lyon, were all reportedly interested in striking a deal themselves in the January window, with the latter also the current side of Carvalho's former Anfield and MKM Stadium teammate, Tyler Morton.

However, the Torres Vedras native has since been ruled out for the campaign after sustaining an ACL injury, scoring three goals in just nine competitive appearances for the West London side under Andrews beforehand.

Hull Live have since claimed that City hadn't ruled out the possibility of Carvalho returning for another loan stint in January despite the club being under their third permanent boss since his last spell officially ended in June 2024.

In a pleasant gesture, the Tigers' hierarchy are believed to have passed on messages of support to their former star as he begins a lengthy recovery process.

Hull City will have to look for other attacking reinforcements amid Fabio Carvalho blow

Naturally, it would have been a statement of intent for City to have signed a player of Carvalho's quality when taking the current restrictions imposed on the club into account.

As such, they will have to identify other reinforcements in the short-term, whilst it has recently been claimed that the club are set to explore the possibilities of signing John Lundstram and Gelhardt on permanent deals next summer when the aforementioned limitations have been removed, with the Liverpudlian duo impressing on loan from Trabzonspor and Leeds United respectively.

However, if the recruitment team and Jakirovic are able to operate in a similar manner as to what was showcased in the summer, a play-off bid could be maintained for the remainder of the season, particularly if the occasional defensive mishap can be eradicated.