"Served his purpose" - Hull City urged to cash in on winger as Hearts eye move | OneFootball

FLW spoke to their resident Hull City pundit to get his take on a potential Ryan Longman departure.

The arrival of Ruben Selles at Hull City has sparked the Tigers into life with seven points from the last 15 available.

This takes them into January on the cusp of jumping out of the bottom three, with Portsmouth ahead by one point.

First, Selles will have a winter window to deal with and while there are new additions that he needs, the early days have seen one of his players linked with a move to Scotland.

That man is Ryan Longman, who, according to Hull Live, has attracted interest from Hearts. The winger has just six months left on his current Tigers deal and this is an aspect that the Edinburgh-based club are looking to play on.

While Hull are willing to sell this month, it will be dependent on whether they can find suitable cover in his position, with Acun Ilicai not looking to leave his club shortchanged following multiple injuries.

Hull urged to cash in on Ryan Longman

Having impressed while on a short loan spell from Brighton and Hove Albion in 2021-22, Longman signed for Hull permanently in that winter transfer window.

Unfortunately, since then, it hasn't quite gone to plan and the 24-year-old has never been able to cement a regular starting place in the XI.

This year he has made just nine appearances with injuries affecting him and while Selles has afforded him opportunities, the Englishman may want a new challenge in his career.

To get a Hull City point of view on this topic, we spoke to our resident Tigers pundit, Ryan Frankish, to get his take on what the club should do with Longman this window.

He said: "Ryan Longman has served his purpose for us in terms of his capabilities.

"Although we are short on the wing, I have no doubt that Acun and the brain team will look at the wings as a primary place to recruit. So, I think regardless of whether Ryan Longman stays or goes, I don't think he would be featuring much in the team after January.

"I would definitely sell him now, take him off the wage bill, and recoup some money that could either go into the budget or cover a loanee's wages.

"I think Longman has been a brilliant servant for us, but we are lacking quality and, unfortunately, he does come under that bracket. Whereas, we could be getting some young lads from the Premier League, who are quick, hungry and have a little bit more electricity about them."

While Longman has never been a poor player for Hull, it is difficult to see his quality improving sufficiently to drive them higher up that league table.

In addition, if he remains in Humberside post-January, then he will have Liam Millar and Mohamed Belloumi to contend with, who are both top-level Championship players on their day.