Hull City set to take advantage of player situation at Birmingham City | OneFootball

Lewis Koumas is now on the lookout for a second loan club of the campaign

Hull City have reportedly emerged as contenders to acquire the services of Welsh international Lewis Koumas on a loan deal from Liverpool after a fresh set of developments surrounding his initial temporary switch with Championship rivals, Birmingham City.

That is according to Ian Doyle - the Liverpool Echo's Chief Liverpool FC reporter - on Monday morning, with it being confirmed shortly afterwards that Koumas had seen his loan stint at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park terminated ahead of schedule after initially arriving on loan from Anfield late in the summer transfer window.

Despite the current financial situations at both Hull and Birmingham being well-documented for differing reasons, it is currently the Tigers who are residing higher in the Championship table as we head towards the close of the winter transfer window.

Indeed, Hull had been tipped, by many, for yet another season of struggle in the second tier after narrowly avoiding the drop into League One by goal difference, before replacing Ruben Selles with current head coach, Sergej Jakirovic.

Yet, despite being hit with a two-window transfer fee restriction, the East Yorkshire side have continued to defy the odds, and three victories in the past week have seen Jakirovic's men surpass the club's points tally from last campaign with 18 fixtures still to play, and they are currently just five points behind the automatic promotion places with a game in hand.

Chris Davies' side, meanwhile, were expected to mount a sustained play-off bid after Knighthead Capital Management's continued investment into the playing squad at St. Andrew's following a record-breaking accumulation of 111 points in League One.

However, the January window has seen the Blues boss already make sweeping changes to his squad, with four players already coming through the door, whilst several players have exited on a permanent basis, or have seen their loan spells cut short.

Football League World exclusively revealed earlier in the month that Koumas' loan spell from the current Premier League champions was expected to be curtailed, although Birmingham and Liverpool had agreed an extension to the break clause negotiated back in August.

While the Chester-born playmaker didn't enjoy the most successful of stints in the West Midlands, Hull are reportedly showing interest, again, in his services, having been beaten to another loan agreement of their own by Blues in the summer.

His previous stint at St. Andrew's represented a second loan spell in the Championship for Koumas, who spent the 2024/25 season with Stoke City under Steven Schumacher, Narcis Pelach and Mark Robins.

Such developments came after the highly-rated youngster made a minor breakthrough into the first-team fold at Anfield during the final months of Jürgen Klopp's trophy-laden spell on Merseyside, which included marking his senior debut for the Reds with a goal in a 3-0 FA Cup success over Southampton 23 months ago.

After scoring six times and providing three assists in 49 matches for the Potters across all competitions under three different managers, Davies was able to bolster his wide options with a loan swoop for Koumas, alongside the arrivals of Demarai Gray and Patrick Roberts.

However, after the break clause in his spell at St. Andrew's allowed him to feature in the 2-0 success over Sheffield Wednesday last Tuesday, Koumas was omitted from Davies' squad against Stoke in place of Brighton loanee and debutant, Ibrahim Osman, plunging his future into further doubt.

Whilst the aforementioned Gray is sidelined until next month, Birmingham are set to further bolster their wide options with the signing of Carlos Vicente from Deportivo Alaves, which has seen Koumas' loan spell officially ended on Monday lunchtime.

As such, it has been reported that Hull are strong contenders to sign the 20-year-old for the remainder of the season, after he featured 25 times for Blues, scoring his only goal in the 3-2 win against Coventry City on January 4th.

Lewis Koumas would add further depth to Hull City's injury-hit ranks

Despite their current lofty position, Hull are still in the thick of an injury crisis, with several first-team players sidelined.

As such, the addition of Koumas on a short-term basis would add further depth behind the likes of Liam Millar, Kyle Joseph, Yu Hirakawa and Joe Gelhardt, whilst Kieran Dowell also joined on an 18-month deal from Rangers last week.

The Tigers have also been linked with a loan swoop for Toby Collyer of Manchester United, with the midfielder still recovering from an injury sustained whilst on loan with West Bromwich Albion in November.

An agreement for either player on a temporary basis would be City's fifth loan of the season, which is the maximum number permitted in a 20-man matchday squad, and given the club's current overall restrictions where a loan fee cannot be paid, this represents somewhat of a mini-dilemma as to which area of Jakirovic's squad needs bolstering most in the short-term.