Surprise Hull City transfer claim involving summer signing emerges - MKM Stadium exit looks imminent | OneFootball

David Akintola could be departing the MKM Stadium, according to reports

Hull City could be parting ways with Nigerian winger, David Akintola, just four months after he agreed a move to the MKM Stadium.

That is according to a fresh update from Turkish journalist, Resat Can Ozbudak, via X, on Monday afternoon, with the Tigers gearing up for an intriguing winter transfer window based on their current position in the Championship table and the limitations previously imposed on them by the EFL.

Sergej Jakirovic's side have been the division's most surprising package after 22 games played, and they continued their recently impressive form with a 1-0 success over a struggling West Bromwich Albion side and their former midfielder, Ryan Mason, on Saturday afternoon.

In an encounter that wasn't the most spectacular of games compared to a huge portion of fixtures that have involved the East Yorkshire club under the Bosnian's watch thus far, Oli McBurnie's penalty in the seventh minute of first half stoppage-time was enough to ensure that City had made it four victories in five Championship games, as well as moving up to fourth, having accumulated 37 points thus far.

Hull had been tipped by many for a season of struggle after narrowly avoiding a second relegation to League One since 2020 last term, and such worries were only heightened when the aforementioned governing body hit the club with a transfer fee restriction - which has since been reduced to two transfer windows - as a result of delayed non-payments to other sides.

As such, Jakirovic and a reformed recruitment team at the MKM Stadium were only able to recruit an eventual total of 12 incomings as either free transfers or on loan deals which required no extra payments such as loan fees or bonuses.

Akintola fell into the first of said categories after spending the first weeks of pre-season as a free agent. However, after just five months, his future in East Yorkshire has somewhat been plunged into doubt.

The Nigerian wide player initially moved to HU3 on a two-year contract after a deal between the Tigers and himself was eventually agreed on 15th August.

Prior to the conclusion of said negotiations, it was first revealed by the aforementioned Resat Can Ozbudak that Hull were wanting to add the 29-year-old to their squad in Jakirovic's first transfer window as a head coach in English football.

The City boss had previously been no stranger to Akintola's ability and experience, with Jakirovic overseeing matters at Turkish Süper Lig side, Kayserispor, for a brief period, whilst the winger ended his spell with Caykur Rizespor after just one season in June, after also featuring for Adana Demirspor.

During his solitary season at the Rize City Stadium, Akintola had registered a tally of three goals and five assists in 32 league appearances, before helping form a new-look attack at the MKM Stadium which included McBurnie, Joe Gelhardt - who returned on loan from Leeds United - Enis Destan and Manchester City loanee, Joel Ndala.

The winger made his debut as a substitute in the dramatic 3-2 success over Oxford United on August 17th, and eventually started for the Tigers for the first time two weeks later in a 4-2 loss at Bristol City, providing an assist for Gelhardt after three minutes played.

Akintola's solitary goal for Hull came on October 4th in a Yorkshire derby against Sheffield United in front of the Sky Sports cameras, where he fired home a deflected volley past Michael Cooper after 30 minutes.

His last start for the Tigers came the other side of the October international break in the 3-2 success over Birmingham City at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park, before it was reported that he had complained of a back issue in the lead-up to a 2-1 win over Leicester City three days later.

Since then, the winger has made seven substitute appearances, which included an 18-minute cameo against West Brom on Saturday afternoon.

However, Ozbudak now claims that the two parties have agreed to part ways just over four months after the aforementioned two-year contract was struck, in what is a rather surprise claim.

David Akintola has endured a mixed start to his Hull City spell amid surprise transfer claim

It must be said that Akintola's spell in East Yorkshire so far has hardly been spectacular beyond his winning goal against the Blades nearly three months ago.

Of course, Hull have to be incredibly strategic when it comes to conducting January business as a result of EFL sanctions, with it already being widely reported that fellow summer free agent, Brandon Williams, is set to leave the club having played just five minutes of Championship action.

Yet, whilst the Nigerian has suffered his own injury issues thus far, the fact he has featured as a substitute in several recent outings does add the element of surprise to these fresh claims, especially whilst Gelhardt, who is capable of featuring on either flank, is currently sidelined until the end of January despite the recent returns of Liam Millar and Mohamed Belloumi.