Hull City: £2.6m transfer risk failed to pay off - View | OneFootball

In what was Steve Bruce's first season in charge of the club, the Tigers would go on to regain their Premier League status after a three-year absence following relegation in 2010.

Bruce assembled a team full of grafters, and was able to also get the best out of players he inherited from Nick Barmby's reign, as well as his own signings into his 3-5-2/5-3-2 systems that served the side with distinction across the campaign.

Throughout Bruce's four-year tenure at the MKM Stadium, a plethora of his signings would go on to have a profound impact, but the same can't quite be said when trying to justify the price tag paid for Nick Proschwitz back in June 2012.

Nick Proschwitz's move to Hull City

The new City boss was installed in the dugout on 8th June 2012, just a month after the previous season's conclusion, and he immediately set about bringing his own philosophy to East Yorkshire.

After goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic became his first signing on 9th July, Proschwitz was swiftly added to the ranks just ten days later, signing from then 2.Bundesliga outfit, SC Paderborn , where he was the division's second-highest scorer in 2011/12, finding the net on 17 occasions.

However, his goalscoring fortunes would transpire a lot differently for the Tigers, who failed to justify the hefty £2.6m price tag for the big German striker.

Nick Proschwitz's troubles in front of goal in a Hull City shirt

Unsurprisingly, given his prior record back in Germany and the transfer fee paid to his former club, there was a high amount of expectation that Proschwitz would be able to strike up a good rapport with Matty Fryatt - who scored 16 goals the previous season - but those hopes were dashed when the former Leicester City man was sidelined for almost the whole season.

However, the German still failed to kick on in front of goal, with it taking him seven Championship appearances to net his first two for the club, which secured a dramatic comeback victory against Ipswich Town in October 2012.

The most surprising aspect was that although Proschwitz continued to struggle to find the net, despite having the quality service around him such as Ahmed Elmohamady, Robert Koren, Stephen Quinn and many more, Bruce continued to persist with the 6"3 forward on a multitude of occasions, making 31 appearances across the campaign and scoring just five goals.

And whilst he would be a source of frustration, his most defining moment in Black and Amber would be netting one of City's two goals in the dramatic final-day draw at home to Cardiff City, which eventually saw the club secure promotion thanks to events at Vicarage Road between Watford and Leeds United.

Proschwitz got on the end of a Quinn cross to level the scores after 58 minutes, and after Paul McShane turned the game on its head, the centre-forward had the chance to make himself a hero from the spot, but his last-minute penalty was saved by David Marshall, before chaos would ensue for a brief period.

Upon promotion to the Premier League, he would only make six appearances for the club, which included goals in EFL Cup and FA Cup victories over Huddersfield Town and Middlesbrough, with the latter of those kick-starting City's run to the final, as well as marking his final appearance for the club.

The downfall of Nick Proschwitz's promising career

In truth, the £2.6m gamble taken by the Tigers was only the start of a downward spiral for Proschwitz, who would subsequently feature for Barnsley, Brentford and Coventry City before returning to the continent.

This was summed up when he was suspended midway through the 2015-16 after his return to Paderborn for a 'flashing' incident in a mid-season training camp in Turkey.

He has since represented Sint-Truiden, Sparta Rotterdam, SV Meppen, Eintracht Braunschweig, Hoffenheim and, most recently, VL Nordbaden outfit, VfB Eppingen, representing how much a promising career slipped away after his move to England 12 years ago.