Steve Bruce's first 5 signings as Hull City manager - Where are they now? | OneFootball

Highlights

Steve Bruce is one of the best-known English managers since the turn of the century, having taken charge of 12 clubs.

One of those dozen is Hull City, where even seven years after his departure the 62-year-old is still held in high regard at the MKM Stadium.

Bruce took charge of the club in the summer of 2012, and in his four-year tenure oversaw almost everything, with automatic promotion in his first season, the club's highest league position, a first FA Cup Final appearance, a brief foray into the Europa League, relegation and a play-off-final victory in his final competitive match in charge amid ownership tensions throughout the majority of this period.

Some fantastic players arrived at the club during that period but there were some transfer misses as well.

1 Eldin Jakupovic

Jakupovic became Bruce's first signing on 9th July 2012, and for the majority of his time at the club was utilised as a deputy.

The one-time Swiss international made his debut for the club in December but failed to make a sustained amount of first-team appearances despite the loan additions of Ben Amos and David Stockdale.

Following promotion, Jakupovic was also seen as third-choice to Allan McGregor and Steve Harper, which followed after relegation for a number of months.

However, McGregor sustained an injury prior to City's play-off campaign, with Jakupovic featuring in both semi-finals and the final. He would then feature 22 times in the Premier League season, becoming a fan favourite under Marco Silva despite a second relegation, most notably saving a last-minute Dusan Tadic penalty at Southampton.

Jakupovic then joined Leicester City where he would remain until 2022. He would then sign a short-term deal with Everton and is now at MLS outfit LAFC, where he made his debut against Austin FC, keeping a clean sheet in a 3-0 win.

2 Nick Proschwitz

The big German striker is next, having signed from SC Paderborn for a £2.6m fee. However, Proschwitz failed to live up to the price tag.

He would make 31 appearances in his first season, but only scored five goals.

His most notable contribution in Black and Amber would come on the final day, in the extraordinary 2-2 draw against Cardiff City. Proschwitz would level the score on 58 minutes, before having a chance to seal the victory after Paul McShane completed a five-minute turnaround. However, the German's spot-kick was missed, before Cardiff scored their own just seconds later, leaving Tigers fans with an agonising 15-minute wait before promotion was secured.

Proschwitz's game time the following season became limited to just two Premier League appearances, as well as further goals in cup ties against Huddersfield and Middlesbrough. He would join Barnsley in the second half of the season before leaving for Brentford on a free transfer six months later.

Afterward, he featured for Coventry, Paderborn again, Sint-Truidense, Sparta Rotterdam and Eintracht Braunschweig. Most recently, he scored 11 goals in 24 appearances in Hoffenheim II's 2022/23 Regionalliga campaign.

3 Abdoulaye Faye

The Senegalese centre-half ended his career in England with the Tigers, joining from West Ham United following their own promotion in 2011/12.

Faye was a regular in the 2012/13 promotion-winning season, becoming a favourite for his defensive and leadership capabilities as well as posing a threat from set-pieces, with a total of four goals, with three of them coming in as many games in September 2012 against Bolton, Millwall, and Leeds.

He would extend his contract following promotion to the Premier League, but would only make seven appearances before being released at the age of 36.

He would subsequently join Malaysian Premier League side Sabah FA, but has been retired since 2016, according to Transfermarkt.

4 Sone Aluko

Aluko became Bruce's next signing on a free transfer following Rangers' financial collapse in 2012.

The forward started like a house on fire at the MKM, with all eight of his goals that season coming before December when the first of many injury problems deterred his stop-start spell in East Yorkshire. Despite only featuring in 24 games in 12/13, Aluko was Hull's second-highest scorer.

The most notable moment of his Tigers career came in a 3-2 victory at Newcastle in September 2013, as Aluko scored his first Premier League goal and the winner with a fine first-time volley from a George Boyd cross, as well as the winner in Hull's first ever European home fixture, a 2-1 victory against Slovakian outfit AS Trencin.

After leaving in 2016, Aluko has played for Fulham and Reading and is currently plying his trade for Ipswich Town. Last season he featured 14 times in the Tractor Boys' promotion from League One, but so far this campaign has been limited to two EFL Cup appearances, scoring against Bristol Rovers.

5 Alex Bruce

Last but by no means least is the manager's son who joined on a free transfer after departing Yorkshire rivals Leeds.

Bruce was a key figure in Hull's defence which won promotion, survived in the Premier League, and reached the FA Cup Final, where he was millimeters away from making it 3-0 after just 12 minutes against Arsenal - a game the Tigers eventually lost 3-2 in extra time.

His solitary goal for Hull came in a 3-0 victory against his former club Ipswich Town on October 20th 2015. Bruce would feature 104 times in all competitions under his father's management, with 17 coming in the promotion-winning campaign of 2015/16, before failing to make an appearance the following season.

The experienced centre-back hit out at the Tigers hierarchy upon his release in 2017, only finding out on social media.

He would then feature for Bury, Wigan, Kilmarnock and Macclesfield FC. Most recently, he was part of the coaching staff during Steve Bruce's tenure at the Hawthorns between February and October 2022.