Dressing room glimpse as Hull City star Jacob Greaves looks set to seal Ipswich Town move

Hull City’s players will have a keen eye on the club’s transfer business over the coming weeks but will be focused on securing their own place in Tim Walter’s starting XI for the opening visit of Bristol City on August 10.

That’s according to former player David Prutton, who says that while some in the Tigers dressing room will be disappointed to see Jacob Greaves leave for Ipswich Town, they will see it as an opportunity to take advantage and get into the team.

Greaves is close to completing a move to Portman Road and could be followed by Jaden Philogene, with two of last season’s most influential players set to leave the MKM Stadium, joining a host of members of Liam Rosenior’s squad on the move amid a huge summer reshuffle following the arrival of Tim Walter.

LEARN MORE: Jacob Greaves set to leave Hull City as Tigers complete Premier League deal

City have made just one permanent addition this off-season so far in Ryan Giles, although his future remains uncertain amid strong interest from Middlesbrough, leaving supporters concerned about what their new team will look like at the start of the campaign.

“You’re disappointed when your best players leave, especially the ones who have really contributed to what City is. There’s an understanding of the fleeting nature of good dressing rooms and good relationships, because that’s the nature of football,” Prutton told the 1904 Club podcast.

“You’re in each other’s pockets for a very intense period of time, and then you each go your separate ways and have to partner up with someone else or go somewhere else and make a new teammate and new friends.

“The quality of the players that we’re talking about that have left was still not enough to get City into the top six, now I think we’ve already said generally that the Championship is, on paper, on the face of it, not as strong as it was last season.

“So you think, well, if City finished just outside, then they must be making a good attempt to finish inside, but again, with the caveat, of not having the same level of players. The missed goals are alarming, but while football and football clubs can be chaotic places, it would be very surprising, given the length of time that Acun (Icali) has owned City now, and the way he has dealt with getting his fingers burned with players or managerial appointments, that he and Tan (Kesler) have not learned a lot in a relatively short space of time.

“Those loaned players were almost always going to come back and when you have good players you always push back the interest of clubs in better positions with more money, like Ipswich Town are at the moment, that’s an absolute fact.

“The players have to focus on their job, not neglecting anything, because you have to be mindful of who you’re going to be sitting next to, or who you’re going to be in the trenches with, metaphorically, when the season starts, but they have to see what the new manager wants, adapt to what the new manager wants.

“Selfishly, you think, ‘Well, he’s gone, does that give me a chance of getting into the team?’ So that’s my next step as a player, to be in his first XI that he picks for the opening game of the season and trust in the process that they’re going to bring in good players, the right players too who will help shape a good dressing room.”