2022 represents the beginning of a new era at Hull, after the unpopular Allam family finally sold the club to Turkish media mogul Acun Ilicali in January.
As expected, there has been plenty of squad churn this summer, with Keane Lewis-Potter and George Honeyman two of the most notable departures. Ilicali has clearly used his contacts to bring in Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, Dogukan Sinik, Ozan Tufan and Benjamin Tettehfrom his homeland.
In addition, Jean Michael Seri represents an incredibly exciting free transfer after finally delivering on his promise with Fulham during their title-winning campaign last season, with Tobias Figueiredo also providing much needed Championship experience at the back.
Oscar Estupinan represents an intriguing signing in attack, too, after the Colombian bagged 15 goals in Portugal’s Primeira Division for Vitoria de Guimaraes last season. If the 25-year-old can adapt to English football, he could prove to be one of the signings of the summer.
Pre-season has generally been a mixed affair, with wins over Malaga and Cambridge United punctuated by defeats to Fenerbahce, Leicester City
and Peterborough United. It will be interesting to see how the Tigers kick-off their season against Bristol City on Saturday, but fans may need to be patient be
It would be fair to assess that Bristol City have had a quieter summer than their forthcoming opponents, with Pearson looking to inject stability into the club following a topsy-turvy campaign.
It is pretty clear where the Robins need to improve on last season: only the top six scored more goals than them, yet only two teams conceded more. Still, few fans could argue they did not get their monies worth at Ashton Gate in Pearson’s first full season in charge.
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Pearson will hope that Kal Naismith, who has joined for free from Luton Town, in particular can help plug that leaky defence. The 30-year-old was unfortunate not to be named in the Championship team of the season after bringing an excellent combination of ball-playing skills and steely nous to Nathan Jones’s defensive unit.
With four clean sheets in six unbeaten pre-season friendlies, including a 1-0 win against Premier League outfit Bournemouth in their final outing, the former Leicester boss appears to be finally stamping his authority on this team.
With Andreas Weimann and Chris Martin ready to score plenty of goals in attack, a spike in clean sheets could prove invaluable as Bristol City aim to march upwards the table. A positive result away to Hull on Saturday could be the start of a successful season.
