After two seasons with Westerlo, is Matija Frigan ready for a move to Hull City and the Championship? | OneFootball

It appears that Matija Frigan is on his way to Hull City. Despite the English club being hit with a three window transfer ban, the Croatian striker is set to join on loan. According to TheCroatianLad on X, Frigan will then be bought at the end of the transfer ban for around €10m. This is quite a haul for Westerlo, and it is clear that Frigan’s former head coach Sergej Jakirović is keen on bringing the player with him to the EFL Championship. However, is Frigan really ready for a move to English football?

Back in 2023, Westerlo made Frigan their record signing, a tag that he failed to live up to during his first season at the club. In 31 games he scored just five goals. Thankfully for Westerlo, their record signing did step up in 2024/2025. In 41 games for the side he scored 14 goals, 13 of which came in the league. On paper at least, this looks like a decent return. However, Frigan can be a frustrating player to watch. His moments of quality remind you of how good he can be, which then makes the moments where he drifts in and out of games or appears ineffective a source of frustration. Some of his goals were goal of the season worthy, such as this solo strike against Dender:

As the post shows, Hull haven’t been the only side linked with a move for Frigan this summer. Yet their offer of €10m is far too good for Westerlo to turn down. It is just under double what Westerlo spent on the striker when they signed him from Rijeka.

Hull fans will hope that Frigan can be more of a success in the English second tier than the last striker to leave Westerlo for the Championship. Burnley’s Lyle Foster struggled to replicate his Pro League form in the league. Frigan and Foster are different players, but many players have struggled when making the move from Belgium to England, especially strikers. When we compare Frigan to other strikers in Belgium, we see that he attempted more shots than 85% of Pro League strikers. He also scored more goals than 67% of sides. These stats come from FotMob, where the striker ended the season with an overall rating of 6.83 (out of 10). By no means bad, but shows how he was inconsistent across the season.

During his prevoius spell under Jakirović at Rijeka, Frigan averaged a rating of 7, with 14 goals in 31 games. With more experience of a different league under his belt, Jakirović will be getting hopefully a better version of Frigan. This may well be a recipe for success. The price tag will put pressure on both to make the most of the reconvening in England. If Frigan fails to deliver, Hull will still have to part with a substantial amount of money to sign him. Hopefully, Frigan can realise his potential and be more consistent on the pitch.

GBeNeFN | Ben Jackson