Hull City: £1.7 million gamble ended up being a huge disappointment - View | OneFootball

Hull City have very much been a side that has struggled to stay in the Premier League for a sustained period of time.

Every time the club has been relegated from the top flight, the Tigers have returned with the expectation of going back.

So, after their relegation in the 2014/15 season, Hull planned on returning as soon as possible, and they made some interesting signings to try and help them towards their goal - one of them being Adama Diomande.

The forward arrived for a hefty price tag, and given how he had performed in Norway, there was big expectations placed upon the attacker - but it didn’t turn out to be quite as successful as anyone would have hoped.

Hull City signed Adama Diomande for £1.7 million following a Norway purple patch

Diomande began his football career in his homeland of Norway, coming through at Lyn before playing for the likes of Skeid, Hodd, and Stromsgodset.

In the early years of his career, Diomande was a prolific goalscorer in the Norwegian league - from 2011 to 2013, he scored 29 goals in all competitions, and that earned him his first big money move in his career as he joined Dinamo Minsk of Belarus.

He spent a year there before returning to Norway with Stabaek in 2015, and it was during this short period where Diomande made himself known to English clubs.

The forward had scored 25 goals for Stabaek in just 26 appearances in all competitions, and that clearly caught the attention of the Tigers as they paid £1.7 million to secure his services.

The Tigers were hoping the striker would be able to fire them back to the Premier League, but it didn’t quite go to plan.

As mentioned, whenever Diomande played in Norway, the forward was very prolific in front of goal.

So, after netting 25 times in just a few months before joining Hull City, the Championship side were hoping he could bring that scoring touch with him to England.

However, for whatever reason, Diomande couldn’t find his scoring boots in England as he managed just eight goals in 64 appearances for the club in all competitions.

As well as not scoring goals for the Tigers, Diomande wasn’t the most regular starter for the club, as in his first season at the KC Stadium he played just 11 times in the second tier of English football.

That 2015/16 season was successful for Hull, as the club sealed promotion back to the Premier League, but if anything, playing in a higher division did nothing to help the forward, as he just didn’t have the quality to impose himself in the league - even if he did appear more.

That Premier League season saw Diomande play 22 times, but he managed just two goals, and in the end, the East Yorkshire club were relegated back to the Championship.

That 2017/18 season was to be Diomande’s final at Hull, and again, the striker didn’t feature much and he only scored one goal.

Overall, the first season at Hull was Diomande’s most successful in-front of goal, but it still wasn’t at the level that was expected by the supporters or the club’s hierarchy.

In that campaign, Diomande started just three of the 11 games he played, averaging just 28 minutes of football per match, per Sofascore.com.

However, in hindsight, the Norwegian's minutes to goal record wasn't too bad - Diomande was averaging a goal every 102 minutes of football and considering a limited amount of time on the pitch, it was an okay record.

Given how much Hull paid to sign Diomande in 2015 though and how he performed as a player overall, it was a very disappointing signing for the club and a disappointing move for the player.

It has been shown before and it will be shown again, but not every player can adapt to the English game, and in Diomande’s case, he just lacked the quality in terms of goals and ability to make a good enough impact in the Championship and the Premier League.