Hull City in advanced talks to appoint Sergej Jakirovic to replace Ruben Selles | OneFootball

The Tigers are looking to finalise their managerial search as soon as possible

Hull City have begun discussions with Kayserispor boss, Sergej Jakirovic, with the Bosnian identified as the club's prime target to replace the recently dismissed Ruben Selles.

Selles was dismissed two weeks ago despite guiding the East Yorkshire outfit to safety after an extremely inconsistent Championship campaign, with Acun Ilicali looking for a sixth permanent boss since his £30m takeover of the club back in January 2022.

A plethora of names had been linked with the job to begin with, which included the likes of Miron Muslic, Dean Smith and former midfielder and club-record signing Ryan Mason, who has been heavily linked with the vacancy at West Bromwich Albion.

But, just 24 hours after speculation regarding a potential move for Jakirovic broke via Croatian news outlet, 24Sata, local publications have confirmed the credibility of those links, as well as revealing that discussions between the relevant parties are underway.

Sergej Jakirovic identified as Acun Ilicali's prime target for Hull City vacancy

Last week, Ilicali confirmed that the new boss of the Tigers was going to be somebody who hadn't been discussed in the mainstream media, which led to links with Celje boss, Albert Riera, although they were soon quashed.

However, whilst some of the aforementioned names linked with the vacancy have set their sights elsewhere, most notably Muslic, who is set to depart Plymouth Argyle and join fallen German giants, Schalke 04, it has been reported by Hull Live that the City hierarchy are in talks with the former Bosnian international centre-back, whose current employers finished the season 12th in the Turkish Süper Lig.

That, of course, is a division well-known to Ilicali, who is on the board of his boyhood club Fenerbahçe, and often splits his time between the MKM Stadium and the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in Istanbul.

The aforementioned publication has confirmed that the 48-year-old is at the top of the list as far as Ilicali's main targets to replace Selles is concerned, and that talks have already commenced and have soon reached an advanced stage, meaning the uncertainty which has surrounded the club ever since the crucial 1-1 draw with Portsmouth on May 4th at Fratton Park could be drawing to a swift end.

Mike White of BBC Radio Humberside backed up such goings-on via his X account, with plenty of City supporters hoping that the club get the appointment spot on after previously underwhelming experiences with European imports in the form of Shota Arveladze and Tim Walter.

Sergej Jakirovic's managerial career has been successful thus far

Whilst some may hold reservations given the aforementioned factors, Jakirovic's track record in the dugout in the past eight years has been relatively successful, and that must continue if Hull are to regain a standing as top-six hopefuls, having finished seventh in 2023/24.

After spells with Sesvete, Gorica and Maribor, Jakirovic led Zrinjski Mostar into Europe for the 2022/23 campaign after winning the top-flight by 27 points. His team would fall short against Sheriff Tiraspol in the UEFA Champions League first qualifying round, before losing to Slovan Bratislava on penalties in the Conference League play-off round.

He also took Rijeka into the Conference League in 2023/24, but the Croatian outfit would come unstuck against eventual quarter-finalists Lille, losing 3-2 on aggregate, just three days after their boss joined the country's most successful club, Dinamo Zagreb.

In his first season at the Maksimir Stadium, Jakirovic won the league and cup ahead of his former employers, finishing eight points in front at the top of the table, before being sacked last September after an infamous 9-2 defeat away to Bayern Munich in the newly-formatted Champions League 'League Phase'.

His current deal in Turkey expires next summer, but Jakirovic transformed Kayserispor's fortunes, as the club went from third-bottom at the time of his arrival, finishing eight points clear of Bodrum, who were relegated in 16th place.

Having won eight of his 16 matches thus far, and boasting a respectable win percentage at each of the clubs he has managed in a top division, which is where Ilicali hopes to take the Tigers in the not-too-distant future, it perhaps isn't a surprise as to why he is the top candidate.