Stoke City, Derby County and Wrexham are among several Championship clubs interested in Hull City centre-back John Egan, according to journalist Pete O’Rourke.
The 32-year-old completed a move to the MKM Stadium in the winter transfer window from promoted side Burnley, but after just a few months at the club, Egan could already be on his way out, with interest from other sides.
Hull City Under Transfer Embargo
The Tigers have been handed a three-window transfer ban after financial mismanagement for failing to pay loanee Louie Barry’s £1 million loan fee in January. This means the club cannot pay a fee for a player until the January 2027 window.
This news comes as a big blow the Hull, although they are thought to be appealing the decision, as this summer window is one the club need to get right to push on from the disaster that was last season.
The club survived on the final day of the Championship season on goal difference, after parting ways with manager Liam Rosenior after finishing three points off the play-offs the season before. Tim Walter was hired as his successor, but after just a few months in the job, he was sacked, with the club closer to the relegation zone than to the play-offs. Now Sheffield United manager Ruben Selles kept the club in the division, but was also sacked.
New manager Sergej Jakirovic has already brought four players into the club, but now, with the embargo, is only allowed to bring in free agent signings or signings that do not involve fees.
Improvements Needed For Stoke City and Derby County
Alongside Hull, both Stoke and Derby finished a whisker away from the dreaded drop last season, missing out by one point each.
For the Rams, this is manager John Eustace’s first full window in charge of the club, with Potters boss Mark Robins going into his first full season in charge at the Bet365.
Both sides have made four signings each at the time of writing, but will want to further improve their squad to avoid the same as last season.
Derby have already brought in experienced centre-back Danny Batth from Eustace’s former club in Blackburn Rovers, whilst Stoke have signed Maksym Talovierov from Plymouth Argyle and the vastly experienced Aaron Creswell. The Potters chose to release experienced trio Lynden Gooch, Michael Rose and Enda Stevens, and need players to replace them.
Wrexham Preparing For Life In Championship
Hollywood-backed Wrexham are preparing for life in the second division after achieving three successful promotions. Although owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have no doubt given Phil Parkinson a pretty penny to spend, the club are yet to reinforce the defence, bringing in striker Ryan Hardie from Plymouth and goalkeeper Danny Ward from Leicester City.
Egan is certainly an experienced option, with over 200 Championship appearances and over 70 Premier League appearances to his name for multiple clubs.
Writer’s View
How this window pans out will be interesting to see from a Hull angle, now that they can no longer pay fees for players. It does beg the question whether or not the Tigers will want to move players on as a result of the embargo.
For all three sides to be going after an experienced centre-back makes sense, none of them want to be involved in another relegation dog fight, but they do need to spend money to do so. Although Egan is still contracted at the MKM Stadium till next summer, with an option of a further year, he may require a fee, but not a big fee.
