Hull City owner makes Jaden Philogene exit admission live on air as West Ham United eye transfer
Hull City owner Acun Illicali has responded live on talkSPORT to reports of interest from West Ham United in Jaden Philogene in the summer transfer window.
The Hammers are understood to be one of several clubs interested in securing the 22-year-old winger’s services this summer, alongside Premier League rivals and European giants Barcelona [Daily Mail, 28 June].
Although Illicali insists that he has told Hull fans he won’t sell their best players this summer, he has admitted that he will not stand in Philogene’s way when quizzed on the Irons’ interest by talkSPORT’s Alex Crook.
Speaking on talkSPORT on Tuesday (2 July, 12:46) Crook asked: “In order to be more successful, how important is it to keep hold of Jaden Philogene?
“We know about interest from Everton and West Ham as well, is it true that Barcelona would like to sign him?”
Illicali responded: “Yes, everything is true but if you ask me, I told our fans that I would sell nobody. My idea in football is not to make money, my idea in football is to make a strong and bigger club.
“To make a bigger club, sometimes if a player says I want to go, that’s a different case. For me, one player change is not the end of the world, but for any of my players, I never want to ruin their career or their mood by pushing them because of the contract that I have.
“In that case, if Jaden wants to move and he says he wants to go somewhere, this is not something that we can do too much because it is his life. I love all my boys, so I’m responsible for their career as well so they don’t need to play with us if they don’t want to play with us.”
Will West Ham United sign Jaden Philogene in summer transfer window amid Hull City exit links?
While Hull clearly doesn’t want to lose one of their brightest talents this summer, it is clear from Illicali’s response to Crook that he is already beginning to accept that Philogene may well be on his way this summer.
The 22-year-old was always going to garner Premier League interest this season, especially after he scored a goal-of-the-season contender with a rabona against Rotherham that Micah Richards branded “ridiculous” [Hull Daily Mail, 16 February].
While Luis Guilherme has already made the move to the London Stadium this summer, the Irons could do with one or two further additions to their ranks to try and flesh out Julen Lopetegui’s attack, especially because the Brazilian is unproven in England.
If the Hammers can somehow beat Barcelona to Philogene’s signature this summer, they should be doing all that they can to win the race. He could be a genuine game-changer alongside the likes of Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers have been handed a boost in the summer transfer race for Sunderland star Jack Clarke
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