Finance expert gives verdict on transfer ban appeal

Hull’s issues stem from their attempts to purchase Louie Barry from Aston Villa after the young striker impressed during a loan spell last season.

The Tigers and the Villains agreed a deal of £3.5million with a “substantial sell-on clause”, according to The Athletic.

However, having failed to pay a £1m loan fee to Villa for Barry’s loan, outstanding payments to Man City for Finley Burns, and delays in paying a supplier left the EFL with little option but to place the club under a transfer embargo.

Hull City could see transfer embargo reduced

Following the announcement of a three-window embargo, Hull chairman Acun Ilicali shared an open letter to fans, explaining that there were “zero issues” between the Tigers and Villa over Barry’s fee.

The chairman said in regard to failing to pay Burns’ loan fee: “We intended to use proceeds of a player sale to settle this fee and as soon as the EFL told us this wasn’t possible – due to reasons not related to us, we made a direct payment immediately to end the matter.”

He then explained away missed payments to suppliers as a “cash flow issue”, finishing his statement saying Hull had “zero conflict with any clubs” and stating “I am sure the EFL will be understanding to our appeal and we are confident in our case.”

However, speaking to Football Insider, finance expert Plumley believes that the Tigers are definitely in for some form of punishment.

He said: “I think the answer ultimately is potentially [if the EFL will accept Hull’s argument], and again, you’re looking at past cases here.

“There’s three ways this plays out. It either gets upheld and it sticks. It gets wiped out completely, or there’s somewhere in the middle.

“And we’ve seen history tell us that sometimes these things fall somewhere in the middle.

“I think it was Oxford a couple of years ago, and other clubs have had similar things where the window ban has been reduced from three to one or two [windows].

“So that’s all dependent on the independent commission and the way it will look, that’s what Hull City have got to prove, that it was a technicality, as they’re saying.

“They’ve got to argue that case pretty strongly and put that evidence forward to the EFL that it was not necessarily wholly their fault that they didn’t make that payment because they were waiting on things that were due from other clubs.

“So that’ll all be in the defence and the negotiation. If they can prove that and the EFL looks at that and the independent commission looks at that and decides that’s a valid reason, that’s when you’re into the realms of potentially this gets reduced.

“I personally think you’d be looking more at a reduction, rather than getting off with it completely, because obviously they still missed the deadline.

“And the EFL will say, well, you knew when the deadlines were, you’ve got to conform to those deadlines and we’ve got to punish accordingly.

“So I think the mitigation piece, for me, if they are going to be successful in the challenge, I think it’ll be somewhere in the middle of potentially a reduction in the number of windows.

“But I do think they will still have some form of punishment linked to it.”

Hull City facing uncertain window

With a transfer embargo now in place, Hull are in a dire spot. New boss Sergej Jakirovic is in desperate need of upgrades for his team after avoiding relegation by goal difference.

Reda Laalaoui and Gustavo Puerta have already signed for the Tigers this summer, and it is unknown whether the EFL will allow the club to register the pair for next season.

As for Louie Barry, the young striker looks likely to be heading to Celtic, Paul Robinson told Football Insider, which will be a major blow for a Hull side that struggled for goals last season.

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