A couple of weeks ago I commented on a laughable bid from West Ham to try and sign Robert Snodgrass. The £3million offer wasn’t even considered by Hull City and they stated that they wanted £10million for their star player. The Tigers have since stuck true to their word and have accepted a deal from fellow northerners Burnley. A rather bizarre decision if I’m being honest, considering he leads the club in both goals and assists, and is also more than capable of producing a piece of magic from a set piece. With Hull facing an uphill relegation battle, I would’ve thought they’d want to wrap both arms around Snodgrass, tighter than Jurgen Klopp does anytime he spots Adam Lallana nearby.
The deal came just a couple of days after it was reported that Middlesbrough were unsuccessful with an offer in the region of £8million. This got me thinking, what are Hull going to be able to do with this extra loose change? With the additional £7million from the Hammers offer, they could slightly outbid the same club on Jermain Defoe. However, methinks Sunderland will continue to be considerably more sensible with their transfer policy, despite having just signed Joleon Lescott. I’m quite looking forward to Lescott putting in poor performance after poor performance, before ultimately coming into his own after relegation is confirmed, and the weight is finally off his shoulders.
Hull may even take a quick look into the Championship, for a replacement front man. I’m sure a seven digit figure could be enough to lure Cameron Jerome away from Norwich. I’d probably advise against that though, as Jerome is famous for being too good for the Championship, but nowhere near good enough for the top flight. If Jerome transfers to the Tigers it would all but damn them to eventual relegation.
Another possibility could be Jason Puncheon. A pacy winger who, considering he’s been at Crystal Palace since 2014, is probably getting itchy feet and the journeyman is definitely due a new club. Considering he’s done virtually nothing at Selhurst Park this season, the Eagles may not be too sad to see him go. However Hull would probably have to act fast, as Puncheon strikes me as the kind of player we’re going to see jetting off to sit on a bench in China very soon.
One player, who certainly isn’t going to be a like for like switch for Snodgrass, is recent loan signing Lazar Markovic. Touted as the next big thing when he arrived at Anfield in 2014, with a massively extortionate price tag, he was a flop under Brendan Rodgers and has now all but faded into insignificance under Klopp. I can honestly say, as a Liverpool fan, I had completely forgotten he was on our books. Following an unsuccessful loan spell at Sporting Lisbon where he was booed by his own fans, he as arrived at Hull hoping he can finally prove himself in English football. I’m going to make a bold prediction…he won’t.
All I can say is it really is a strange decision by the Hull board to let Snodgrass go. It will be interesting to see how Hull fans react come the end of February, when he dives to win a late penalty and ultimately the game, on his return to the KCOM. I suppose it will all be alright, as long as he apologises on Twitter afterwards of course.