Hull City transfer plans could lead to Ruben Selles player U-turn | OneFootball

Harry Vaughan's current predicament is one of intrigue in East Yorkshire

It's been made no secret whatsoever that Hull City are looking to make key adaptations to their squad for the final 20 matches of the Championship season.

The Tigers' previous window saw them lose several assets, such as Jaden Philogene, Jacob Greaves, Jean Michael Seri and Ozan Tufan, whilst a scatter-gun approach to incomings under previous boss, Tim Walter, is one of the reasons the club find themselves in a relegation dogfight.

Therefore, whilst Ruben Selles has restored a sense of unity and confidence in East Yorkshire, the Spaniard is under no illusions that the current window is crucial to the club's short and long-term aspirations.

The wide areas are a department which the former Reading boss is clearly intent on strengthening, as there have been several rumours in recent days that a winger who offers long-standing Championship experience is close to moving to the MKM Stadium.

And, whilst said transfer target remains anonymous, Harry Vaughan is one man who has been re-instated into Selles' plans of late, although the aforementioned transfer decision could mean the Spaniard may have to make a short-term U-turn.

Harry Vaughan is highly-rated by Ruben Selles

The 20-year-old Republic of Ireland youth international has been with City since January 2023, joining the club's academy after breaking through at National League outfit, Oldham Athletic.

Selles isn't the only head coach to believe in the Trafford-born midfielder's potential, as he made five consecutive starts under Liam Rosenior in the final weeks of the 2022/23 season, just two months after being acquired from Boundary Park.

This breakthrough at the MKM meant Vaughan was rewarded with a three-year contract extension.

However, as a result of the frightening creative options in East Yorkshire last term, one start and seven appearances meant it was clear the playmaker needed to source regular minutes.

And, although a loan move to Bristol Rovers seemed the necessary course of action, it was made clear by then Gas boss, Matt Taylor, that the attacker just wasn't suited to the style at the Memorial Stadium, stating that another loan move to a side who have a differing ideology could be even more beneficial in the short-term after a spell of 12 games that failed to yield a solitary goal contribution.

Recently, Selles admitted that he came close to acquiring Vaughan's services at the Select Car Leasing Stadium in the previous window, in a move which would have aligned with his philosophy of developing young talent at the cash-strapped Berkshire outfit.

The Hull head coach told Hull Live: “As I said before, I know him. I tried to get him for Reading in the last transfer window, and I think he’s a player with potential..."

And, after regaining confidence with the club's Under-21's, Vaughan has played a part in all of City's last three outings against Middlesbrough, Leeds United and Doncaster Rovers, starting the latter of those in the FA Cup and performing to a reasonable standard.

Ruben Selles may need to consider Harry Vaughan U-turn

Vaughan's variety of attributes have made him a hot topic of discussion at times, with it being clear that there is a technically-gifted performer in there, but a lack of physicality may prove detrimental to the forward when it comes to gaining regular minutes at this moment in time.

Selles recently said on the NTT20 Podcast that every player in his squad must feel as close to the starting XI as they possibly can, although that is proving difficult with a squad nearly full to the brim.

"I think everyone needs to feel important. Everyone needs to feel that they're close to the line-up and everyone needs to feel part of it," he said.

"So, having a really long squad is not helpful for anybody," the City boss continued. "And, we also need to have room for the improvement of the young players like Harry or Tyrell (Sellars-Fleming)."

A potentially imminent addition in those wide areas could then impact Vaughan and push him back down the pecking order, as well as taking into account the fact that Liam Millar and Mohamed Belloumi will also be available from the get-go next term after both suffered long-term ACL injuries.

Therefore, whilst it's clear that the man who was named in the Irish Under-21's squad in November could fulfil his potential under Selles, the chance to do so cannot be hampered any further, especially with just a year left on Vaughan's contract at the end of the current season.