Hull City chief outlines Ryan Giles transfer stance amid Middlesbrough interest | OneFootball

Boro were said to be keen on bringing the wide man to The Riverside this summer

Hull City are keen to keep hold of full-back Ryan Giles this summer despite interest from Championship rivals Middlesbrough, according to vice-chairman Tan Kesler.

Kesler has clarified the Tigers’ stance on the 24-year-old after owner Acun Ilicali previously said he was free to leave the club.

The vice-chairman has outlined that his side are keen for the former Luton Town man to play a part in the next season on Humberside, as City look to go improve on their seventh-placed finish in the previous campaign.

Giles spent the second half of the previous season on loan at the MKM Stadium from Luton, with the deal including a £4 million obligation to buy this summer.

Hull City vice-chairman believes Ryan Giles will stay with the Tigers amid Middlesbrough interest

Having come up through the Wolverhampton Wanderers academy, Giles spent plenty of time away from Molineux on loan in the Football League, with the most successful of which coming with Boro in 22/23.

The wide man featured in all but one of Michael Carrick’s side’s matches that season, as the Teessiders missed out on promotion to the Premier League through the play-offs.

Those performances were enough to tempt Luton into making a move last summer, although he was once again shipped out in January, as he made the move back to the EFL with Hull.

With his pace down the flanks, Giles immediately earned himself a place in Liam Rosenior’s starting lineup, and played his part as the Tigers pushed for a playoff spot until missing out on the final day.

Despite City being obliged to buy him this summer, rumours of a return to The Riverside had begun to surface this summer, but Kesler has acted to quash that talk with his latest comments.

Talking to the BBC (via Yorkshire Post) Kesler said: “I want Ryan to be part of the leadership group and be proud of this organisation and us and take us to the next level.

“He is capable of doing that. As a personality, he is amazing, his ability is exceptional and he’s proven.

"Because of the nature of our culture in Hull and our family culture, it takes time for players to acclimatise.

“I think he’s finished his acclimatisation. I’ve seen him in our first friendly game; he was more confident and expressive about himself. I don’t expect to see him leaving us or want to leave us.

"If he’s going to leave, it needs to be a significant persuasion for us. But Acun and I are very confident he should stay."

Hull City prepare for Jaden Philogene departure after Jacob Greaves leaves for Ipswich Town

While talk of Giles departing the club is merely conjecture at this moment in time, Jaden Philogene is the next player who looks likely to wave goodbye to Humberside this week.

The winger is said to have undergone a medical at Premier League outfit Aston Villa on Monday, as he looks set to complete a £12.6 million move back to his former club, just ten months after leaving Villa Park.

That marks the second big departure from the club in the space of a week, with key central defender Jacob Greaves [pictured] also leaving for newly promoted Ipswich Town, in a deal said to be worth £15 million.

Despite understandably wanting to keep hold of their top talents, City reluctantly let the pair leave this summer, and Kesler believes their summer transfer business is a sign of how well the club is run.

He continued: “When we came in, we said we don’t want to sell any of our players and our chairman said it openly, and I’m advocating it.

“But if the players want to go, we are more than happy to understand what the market is. All these links for us are justification of how well (good) job we have done. We have never put any price to our players.”