Hull City supporters will fondly remember Tottenham agreement after player news: View | OneFootball

Tom Huddlestone's time at the MKM Stadium gave supporters plenty of excitement

Depending on performances, new signings at clubs can become instant heroes to their latest set of admirers.

Hull City have had their fair share of those over the years, but one particular deal after the Tigers achieved promotion back in 2013 will stand out more than most in that regard following recent developments.

Former City ace Tom Huddlestone was adored by the sell-out crowds which graced the MKM Stadium at the time of his arrival from Tottenham Hotspur, and continued to be a popular figure with those supporters despite a period of tension, as well as success in equal measure in East Yorkshire.

Tom Huddlestone's switch to Hull City

The ex-England international was an established Premier League name, but was always underrated to a degree by some watchers of the top-flight, with the Nottingham-born midfielder always showing great elegance and composure on the ball in particular.

Regardless of achieving promotion under Steve Bruce, the thought of Hull obtaining a player of Huddlestone's ilk would have seemed like a pipe-dream to supporters. However, the acquisition of his signature for a reported £5.25m price tag from the North London side will go down in folklore in HU3.

The then 26-year-old would join the club on the same day as midfield and Tottenham counterpart Jake Livermore, with both becoming part of the furniture under Bruce's management.

The midfielder's finest moments in Black and Amber

Across four years with the club in his first spell, Huddlestone gave the Tigers a catalogue full of standout moments, with plenty still eulogising to this very day about the quality of his goals or the strength of his passing range, both of which were second-to-none.

The first standout moment came on the midfielder's 27th birthday in what proved to be Hull's biggest ever Premier League victory to-date - a 6-0 rout over Fulham in December 2013.

City were already 3-0 to the good thanks to Ahmed Elmohamady Robert Koren, and George Boyd, before Huddlestone drove a long-range effort past former City loanee David Stockdale, ending his well-documented two-year goal drought, before an infamous celebration which saw him cut some of his hair on the MKM turf, before trimming the rest off days later and raising over £36,000 for charity in the process.

The four-time Three Lions international would then showcase his exuberance on the Wembley turf just months later in a pivotal moment against then-League One Sheffield United in the FA Cup semi-final.

With the tie firmly in the balance at 2-2, Huddlestone firmly swung the pendulum in City's favour by playing a neat one-two with David Meyler in the middle of the park, before weaving his way past Neill Collins and firing a curling strike out of Mark Howard's reach to give the Tigers the lead for the first time in the game, before eventually winning 5-3.

Huddlestone also starred in the club's maiden FA Cup final defeat to Arsenal - assisting James Chester's opener - as well as featuring in three of the club's four UEFA Europa League fixtures, although the less said about his penalty in the away leg against AS Trencin, the better.

Even after suffering relegation in the same season, the experienced playmaker was part of a redemption act under Bruce the following campaign, as he netted two Championship goals - including a stunning effort in a 3-0 demolition of Middlesbrough - and four assists, as the Tigers defeated the other half of Sheffield in North London, courtesy of Mohamed Diame's spectacular effort.

Hull's pre-season issues in 2016 were well-documented, but Huddlestone still featured regularly under Mike Phelan and Marco Silva - scoring his final two goals for the club under the Portuguese, both from the penalty spot against Burnley and in the EFL Cup against Manchester United.

Since reaching the peak of his powers, Huddlestone has showcased great loyalty to two of his former clubs in Derby County, who he rejoined in 2017 after leaving Hull, before returning to City under Grant McCann in 2021 after spending a year without a club.

The midfielder was only in action 11 further times in Black and Amber - only four of which were starts - but was able to lend his knowledge of the game to the likes of Keane Lewis-Potter and Jacob Greaves, who have become the most recent academy stars in this part of the world.

Despite continuing to have an ever-lasting connection with supporters, McCann's successor, Shota Arveladze, opted to release Huddlestone at the end of the 2021/22 campaign, before he joined Manchester United as a player-coach with the club's U21 side.

However, that has since come to an end, with the 37-year-old recently announcing his retirement and joining former Tiger Shaun Maloney's coaching staff at Wigan Athletic.