Hull City should hope Euro 2024 cameo is not all they see of international target: View | OneFootball

Zan Celar played brief cameos for Slovenia at Euro 2024 amid interest from Hull City

Euro 2024 has served up a feast of drama and great goals in equal measure, as the competition reaches its latter stages.

Despite the underwhelming nature of the performances served up by England so far in Germany, the main focus of all in this country is to see whether Gareth Southgate's 26-man squad can achieve a first trophy since 1966.

That's if you're not involved in the inner-workings of a football club, whether that be the manager or recruitment team, with plenty of sides in the EFL busy in the market after the opening of the summer transfer window.

It'll be a busy period for all connected to Hull City, as new German boss Tim Walter embarks on his first pre-season at the MKM Stadium, and there's plenty of work for the former Hamburg SV boss to do.

A number of positions need plenty of bodies adding to. And, for the 48-year-old, he'll be hoping that one country's recent exit from the European Championships isn't the last Tigers fans see of an international target.

Slovenia earned a high amount of credit for their defiant performances against a number of high-profile nations, both in the Group Stage and Round of 16, where 'Zmajčeki' were eventually undone by Portugal on penalties in Frankfurt on Monday night.

One man who featured within Matjaž Kek's 26-man squad was striker, Zan Celar.

His nation may have only reached the knockout phase for the first time in their history in this tournament and shown great credibility in their defensive resolve against Denmark, Portugal and England in the final group match in Cologne on June 25th, but opportunities for Celar to write himself into the headlines were few and far between.

That isn't to say that the 25-year-old didn't put himself about, despite facing strong competition from the likes of RB Leipzig wonderkid and Arsenal target, Benjamin Šeško.

Celar began his tournament with a 15-minute appearance off the bench against Denmark without making an impact on the game, before another nine-minute cameo against England after replacing former Middlesbrough loanee Andraz Sporar.

Although Slovenia had some late joy against the Three Lions, the 25-year-old's impact was minimal against the imperious duo of John Stones and Marc Guehi, only receiving one touch of the ball in nine minutes.

However, there was somewhat of a greater impact on proceedings by Celar against Portugal, as the game went to extra-time and eventually penalties, meaning that he would feature for 45 minutes in total after once again replacing Sporar.

The Roma youth graduate competed well against a tiring duo of Pepe and Rúben Dias, and although his 115th-minute effort was well wide of the mark, the 6"1 striker showed his combative nature by winning two of his four duels, as well as aiding his under-fire defence with two clearances, with those assets very much needed in the Championship if a deal was to come to fruition.

Celar's domestic form makes him an adequate Hull City target

Regardless of his sparse appearances this summer, Celar's form for Swiss Super League outfit, FC Lugano, more than makes up for that, and the centre-forward can be seen as a more than adequate target for Walter in the coming weeks.

Reports from Swiss outlet, 4-4-2.ch, claim that City have inquired about the possibility of a deal, with his current employers claiming that the man out of contract in 2025 could be made available for a figure between €2-2.5m, a figure which has drastically halved despite his potency for the Bianconeri amid stern competition from Fortuna Düsseldorf.

Celar netted 14 times in the league for Lugano, which made him the joint-highest scorer alongside St Gallen's Congolese forward Chadrac Akolo, as well as being two further than City's best return last season, which was Jaden Philogene with a tally of 12.

On top of the tally, he's shown great variation with his type of goal, with three being headers, two from his weaker left foot and the other nine coming from his right boot.

The tall forward also netted six goals in as many Swiss Cup games, as Lugano reached the final before losing on penalties to FC Servette, as well as finding the target against Bodo/Glimt in the UEFA Conference League Group Stage.

Despite the prospect of the Slovenian making his first move to England, Hull cannot afford to stop there when it comes to their striking department.

Having lost the likes of Liam Delap, Aaron Connolly, Billy Sharp and Noah Ohio following the expiration of contracts and loan deals, significant depth and quality is required if a play-off berth for the first time since 2016 is to be achieved.

It now seems beyond City's reach that Delap will be returning to HU3 under a different boss amid Southampton's strong interest, with it also being a club his father Rory also played for.

Hull have been linked with Jay Stansfield, who was extremely prolific last season with 13 strikes in a dismal season at Birmingham City, but besides those rumours, links to strikers and other positions on the whole have been few and far between since the window's opening.

Walter has given re-assurance to supporters that this is because the hierarchy and recruitment team are focusing on bringing the right profile of players to bed into his high-pressing game, although if none are poached sooner rather than later, there is a possibility that the East Yorkshire outfit will be left behind in the market.

Therefore, City will hope the cameos at the Euro's aren't the last they see of Celar.