Hull's Transfers Are a Major Roll of the Dice by Steve Bruce

Steve Bruce’s busy summer in the transfer window has been hailed as one of the best in the Premier League. Bruce brought in no fewer than 10 players to add to the squad which finished 16th and reached the FA Cup final last term. However, in adding to his squad, Bruce has bucked a trend that has marked his 16-year managerial career, turning away from his reliance on home nation-based talent. In doing so, he has brought several exciting players to the club, but opened himself up to considerable pressure in the process.

Bruce has welcomed the likes of Abel Hernandez—for a club-record £9.5 million—Mohamed Diame, Gaston Ramirez and Hatem Ben Arfa to the club, and in doing so has added some flair to the functionality his teams are so often focussed on.

He has, of course, signed and worked with numerous foreign players before. His tendency to focus on players from the UK is an attitude born of the long-held belief that British players have an innate understanding of the style and culture of the Premier League that those born futher afield sometimes lack. Jake Livermore—prior to the arrivals of the four aforementioned players—stated his belief that Bruce had deliberately crafted a British core to the team with this in mind, per the Hull Daily Mail.

Prior to the final day of the transfer window, Bruce had signed only British players, and only one player not from the UK or Ireland—Ahmed Elmohamady—started their Europa League tie with AS Trencin. The manner in which Bruce injected the foreign influence into his team—Hernandez, Diame, Ramirez and Ben Arfa all arrived on transfer-deadline day—had something of a panicked, scattergun feel to it.

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Bruce will have to work to ensure that this influx of players doesn’t damage the team spirit identified by Livermore as crucial to their success, while also avoiding Hull’s foreign contingent feeling isolated by the majority presence of British players. Ben Arfa in particular has the capability of upsetting even the most tightly knit of dressing rooms, as evidenced by his falling out with Newcastle manager Alan Pardew.

As well as managing the squad, Bruce will also be wary of the club’s owner, Assem Allam. Allam has been instrumental in the club’s recent successes, bank-rolling their return to the Premier League and helping them retain their top-flight status last season. However, his campaign to change the club’s name—and his subsequent decision to put Hull up for sale, per The Guardian—has demonstrated his desire to have things his own way. What role he played in the club’s transfer dealings is unclear; regardless, Bruce’s significant outlay in the market has opened himself up to considerably more scrutiny.

Bruce is one of the most highly rated managers in the country, and this move into the unknown is admirable more than anything else. It could well prove to be the decision that propels City into the upper reaches of the top division for the first time in their long history. On the other hand, he must make certain that it doesn’t disturb an already winning formula.