"The memories he gave us" - Hull City lauded for transfer agreement that landed £25m profit | OneFootball

FLW's Hull City fan pundit has been speaking on the Tigers' biggest transfer masterstroke.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Hull City are beginning to steer themselves clear of Championship relegation, with a number of their new recruits playing a huge part in the Tigers' survival bid.

Ruben Selles' side are now four games unbeaten in the second tier, and have lost just once in their last seven league outings.

Summer arrival Abu Kamara came off the bench to win a valuable point away at West Brom last time out, whilst loan pair Gustavo Puerta and Joe Gelhardt provided the two goals in the win over Oxford United on 12 March.

Free agent midfielder Steven Alzate has been one of the shrewdest signings made by any Championship club this term, whilst young defender Charlie Hughes has been a revelation for Hull since joining from Wigan Athletic in the summer.

"To see the career that he's had" - Hull City's biggest transfer masterstroke revealed

We asked our Hull City fan pundit, Ryan Frankish: 'What is the biggest transfer masterstroke City have ever made in your opinion, and why?'

Frankish said: "I'd say the biggest masterstroke from our club is probably Jarrod Bowen to be honest.

"Getting him from Hereford, I think it was about a quarter of a million pounds, maybe £400k. I can't really remember (Was reported via BBC Sport to have signed on a free due to Hereford being in breach of Bowen's contract regarding the failure to pay his wages in full).

"But, for the impact he had - he must have scored at least 50 (54 - per Transfermarkt) goals for us. I know obviously, you look at it from a business sense that the club made nearly £20m (Sky Sports reported sale to West Ham was worth £25m) profit on him, but I also just think of, yes the profit, but add that on top of the memories that he gave us.

"That beautiful wing-play that he gave us, and now on top of that, just to see the career that he has had - he's away with England at the moment -, it just shows how much of a good eye out recruitment did with him, even beyond his career with us."

Jarrod Bowen remains one of the best wingers to play in the Championship in recent times

Having initially joined Hull City's academy following his move from Hereford United in the summer of 2014, Bowen would spend the first two seasons as a Tigers player marinating in the shadows.

As such, when he was handed his first-team debut in the 2016/17 season, a campaign that saw Hull drop out of the Premier League, his seven top flight appearances may not have elicited his first goal for the club, but it did act as a change for the City faithful to become familiar with his name.

Once handed the chance to shine, it didn't take long for everyone connected with the club to realise they had a special talent on their hands, but a future England international? That would take some doing.

But after banking a 14-goal season during his first campaign as a first-team regular in the 2017/18 season, it was obvious Bowen was destined for the top.

Over the following two second tier seasons, Bowen would score 38 times and provide 11 assists in 75 appearances, as he quickly established himself as one of the best players in English football outside the Premier League.

Outside the top flight he wouldn't be for much longer, however, as West Ham snapped him up in a deal worth a reported £25m in January 2020, and he's gone on to enjoy a superb career with the Irons.

Now a regular in the England side and a top player in the Premier League, Hull City have 25 million reasons as to why securing his signature as a little-known non-league prospect was the club's greatest ever piece of transfer business.