Fresh insight into Hull City new manager search as Acun Ilicali seeks swift appointment

It's almost a week since Ruben Selles was given his marching orders by Hull City owner Acun Ilicali and attention quickly turned to who will replace the Spaniard.

City are on the hunt for their fifth permanent manager since Ilicali took charge of the club in January 2022 and third in the space of almost a year, after Liam Rosenior and Tim Walter were sacked prior to Selles' arrival.

The Tigers know they must move quickly to replace Selles and ensure they're not left chasing their tail this summer, just as they were 12 months ago.

Ilicali has been playing a leading role in discussions over appointing a new boss. After conducting a review of football operations in the days following the season finishing with that 1-1 draw at Portsmouth, the Turkish businessman, along with sporting director Jared Dublin, head of recruitment Martin Hodge and Mustapha Yokes, spent two days in meetings at Ilicali's Istanbul residence to thrash out a plan of attack.

City's owner has pushed aside other commitments to focus on appointing a new manager and held his latest interview on Monday afternoon, alongside his self-titled brain team, which includes Dublin, Hodge and Yokes. The candidate interviewed is thought to have impressed the panel and could yet be offered the job, though that is not expected to be a foregone conclusion, and further discussions are likely.

The identity of the candidate interviewed has been kept under wraps with City, on this occasion, keen to remain tight-lipped given the number of Championship clubs all seeking a new boss.

More conversations are scheduled to take place on Tuesday, with Ilicali keen to take another big step towards finding Selles' successor in the hope of making an appointment as soon as possible.

Plymouth Argyle head coach Miron Muslic and Antalyaspor boss Emre Belozoglu had been linked with the vacant MKM Stadium role, but it's understood neither of those is currently in the running to replace Selles and neither were the candidate who was interviewed yesterday and impressed the panel..