Hull City: £3.5m Brentford deal still leaves major regret - View | OneFootball

Moses Odubajo's Hull City career was cut-short through a major injury

The summer of 2015 saw Hull City return to the Championship after a two-season stint in the Premier League, with the simple objective of making a swift return to the top flight in mind.

Steve Bruce's side had a balance of seasoned performers who offered a wealth of experience for when it came to navigating a successful exit route away from the second tier, as well as numerous high-potential players who went on to make a name for themselves at the MKM Stadium before flourishing elsewhere.

This included the likes of Andy Robertson, Harry Maguire and Sam Clucas, but one particular deal following the club's relegation does continue to leave a sense of major regret.

Moses Odubajo's move to Hull City was exciting, but it would soon turn to a disaster

Moses Odubajo moved from Brentford to East Yorkshire in August 2015 for a reported £3.5m fee, and given the potential ceiling placed on the full-back, such figures represented a bargain deal at the time.

The then 22-year-old, who was a club-record signing at Griffin Park the year before from Leyton Orient, continued his upward trajectory under Mark Warburton after excelling at Leyton Orient in League One, which included a memorable strike in the Play-Off Final against Rotherham United, before moving across the capital.

Odubajo scored three goals and assisted five from right-back, which made him a prime target for Bruce, who had lost the services of Liam Rosenior on a free transfer to promotion rivals Brighton and Hove Albion.

The first of his 53 appearances in Black and Amber came in a 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers on 16th August 2015, which began his one and only season of competitive action with the club, but what a year it was for the full-back.

In a side full of highly-reputable names such as Abel Hernandez, Mo Diame, Michael Dawson, Robert Snodgrass and the aforementioned Robertson and Maguire, Odubajo's role in the promotion-winning side often went under the radar.

But, the defender struck up an immediate rapport with Ahmed Elmohamady, who continued to be a creative force on the right flank, but had license to push further forward as a result of Odubajo arriving.

His first assist came in a 3-0 victory over Ipswich Town, as the full-back turned provider for Chuba Akpom with a fizzing low cross after a lung-busting run upfield, with the goal doubling City's lead in the encounter ahead of half-time.

As well as the goal contribution, the win against the Tractor Boys saw Odubajo remain a key part in Hull's best defensive run of the campaign, as they kept five successive clean sheets.

Odubajo's drives forward were so often instrumental in the Tigers netting a bulk of their 69 goals in the regular season, which was proven as he won a crucial penalty against Fulham in January 2016, which was converted by Hernandez.

No other player eclipsed the right-back's availability record in the season too, with two away trips to Derby County in particular showing a complete contrast to Odubajo's performances.

After Hull's automatic promotion chances had faded, the defender was dismissed 55 minutes into a 4-0 hammering at Pride Park, but he and the rest of the City squad would gain their revenge the following month in the Play-Offs.

After Hernandez casually rolled in a 25-yard opener, Odubajo then saw a route to goal late in the first-half, and although not credited with the eventual goal, his drive was deflected in by Jason Shackell, wrong-footing Scott Carson in the process and doubling Hull's advantage, before assisting his full-back partner in Robertson in the 97th minute, rounding off a man-of-the-match performance.

Odubajo's dreams of reaching the Premier League then became real after beating Sheffield Wednesday under the Wembley arch, although it would eventually signal the end of his competitive City career after two years of severe misfortune.

Moses Odubajo injury leaves Hull City fans feeling 'What if?'

The likes of Odubajo and Sam Clucas had reached the Premier League after years of hard work in the lower reaches of the professional game, and after their key involvement in the promotion success, there was an intrigue and excitement to see how they would perform in the Premier League.

However, the right-back, who at the time was arguably on a par with Robertson, who has since gone on to win several domestic and European major honours after an £8m move to Liverpool in 2017 and become Scotland captain, is left to dream of what might have been, had it not been for the suffering of a dislocated kneecap in a pre-season friendly against Grimsby Town.

Odubajo underwent surgery three times in total, but was unsuccessful in relaunching his Tigers career across the next two seasons, with his contract expiring in the summer of 2018, with Hull changing managers five times before the right-back returned to Brentford on a free transfer.

Understandably, seeing a number of teammates who formed a brotherly-like bond in the 2015/16 season perform from the sidelines was tough on the man who heard his name alongside the commonly-used "he's magic, you know" chant from the supporters.

“It broke me to a level that you can never explain. A kid’s dream is to play in the Premier League and the first game of the season, I was watching my team-mates play a game against Leicester. The weather was lovely and I was sitting in the stands frustrated and thinking, ‘When is my time?," Odubajo told the Athletic in 2020.

“How it ended wasn’t the greatest but I’ve got a lot of good memories from my time there,” he also admitted to Hull Live ahead of his 2018 return to East Yorkshire with the Bees, months after rejecting a reduced contract offer from Hull.

“I spent two years watching the boys, which wasn’t great, but the upside was the promotion season."

"The memories from the first season will last a lifetime but to see the lads relegated from the Premier League, knowing how hard they’d worked to get there, wasn’t easy," he added.

“When you’re injured on the side there’s nothing you can do to help the boys. Towards the end I stopped going to the games because I felt as though it was beating me up even more.”

Odubajo's feeling of regret was completely justified, having put in all the hard yards with Orient and Brentford to reach the Premier League before never getting the chance to leave his mark on the top flight.

The man who was a fans' favourite at the MKM also has fans feeling the same way given Robertson's subsequent trajectory, but he will always be remembered for his efforts in the eventual play-off success.