Hull City and Burnley's January agreements paying off already: View | OneFootball

Hull City were arguably the winners of the January transfer window, with some of their loan signings being a cut above the rest of the chasing pack in the Sky Bet Championship - and a deal they did with Burnley in the winter window is indicative of their success.

The Tigers had a stellar summer in which the likes of Liam Delap, Aaron Connolly, Tyler Morton and prize asset Jaden Philogene came to the club; and a strong first-half of the season saw the Tigers go sixth at the turn of the year.

With fans crossing their fingers for a play-off finish to give them every fighting chance of a Premier League return after seven years away from the top-flight, Hull then shocked the footballing world with the signing of Fabio Carvalho from Liverpool, alongside the addition of Ryan Giles from Luton. But it’s a piece of business they did with Burnley that really separates good business from brilliant business.

Hull City swapping Twine for Zaroury is paying off already

Scott Twine was the man to venture from East Lancashire to East Yorkshire in the summer. Injury problems somewhat thwarted him last season for the Clarets, and by the time he was ready for selection at the Christmas mark, Vincent Kompany’s side were already clear leaders at the top of the table - and so Twine found it tough to get himself into the first-team.

Hull came calling after being ousted by Burnley in the race to secure his signature from MK Dons in 2022, but while Twine fared relatively well at the MKM Stadium with four goals and three assists in his first half-season at the club, there was a lingering sense of doubt that Carvalho and Philogene were the showmen, and he wasn’t quite on the same level, having failed to match to their hype and abilities.

Instead, Hull saw Twine depart Liam Rosenior’s side for Bristol City on loan, and with fans wondering who was to come in, they secured the deadline day signing of Anass Zaroury - who tore the Championship up last season at Turf Moor. The winger nabbed 12 goal contributions in just 27 starts for the Clarets last season as they romped to a 101-point season, and even earned a place in Morocco’s team for the World Cup, featuring in the third-placed play-off in Qatar.

But already this season, he’s started in five games for Hull in the league - and the Tigers have won four of them, including handing a first home defeat for Southampton since September. Zaroury, Carvalho and Philogene are arguably one of the best attacking midfield threes in the division - and should they keep their form up, a play-off place will be all but secured.

Hull City have a great chance of making the play-offs

The Tigers, like many other teams, will be looking at their run-in to gauge an idea of their chances of making the play-offs.

Their final six games are against Cardiff City, Middlesbrough, QPR, Watford, Ipswich and Plymouth - which is an incredibly favourable set of fixtures at face value.

Fans will be hoping that Cardiff, Boro, Watford and Plymouth all have nothing to play for by that point, and with Ipswich on the penultimate day of the season, it’s entirely conceivable that they could be out of the automatic promotion race by then or, indeed, promoted already.

As a result, if Hull can keep their heads above the water for the next six games - in which they face the likes of West Brom, Leicester, Coventry and Leeds - they could be comfortable heading into the final straight.