HULL SUFFER STRIKER BLOW
Slutsky sees big-money offer rejected as extent of Hernandez injury sinks in
HULL CITY have been told to forget about signing Kenneth Zohore after having a £10m bid for the Cardiff City striker rejected, The Yorkshire Post can reveal.
The Tigers made their latest offer for the in-demand 23-yearold yesterday but were quickly rebuffed.
With Abel Hernandez facing a lengthy absence after the one-time record signing was stretchered off with a “very serious” Achilles injury, City badly need to bolster their attack before the transfer window closes.
Bluebirds manager Neil Warnock, however, is adamant that the Yorkshire club’s interest in Zohore will come to nothing.
“If Zohore goes anywhere from Cardiff – and we certainly don’t want that to happen – then it will be to one of the top ten clubs in the Premier League and nowhere else,” said the 67-year-old when speaking exclusively last night. “And it will be for a lot more than £10m as well.”
Zohore joined the Bluebirds in January 2016 and has been in scintillating form this season, helping Warnock’s side to a maximum nine points from the opening three games.
City are awaiting confirmation on the extent of Hernandez’s injury but the suggestion is he could be out for eight months.
That potentially means the Uruguayan could have made his last appearance for Hull due to his contract being into its final year.
His loss for the season would be a huge blow to Leonid Slustky and his hopes of mounting a promotion challenge.
Hernandez netted 20 goals in the Tigers’ last promotion campaign and already has a hat-trick to his name this time around.
Captain Michael Dawson was full of sympathy for Hernandez if his lay-off proves to be a lengthy one.
“We don’t know how bad it is but it did not look great, the way he went off,” added the former England international.
“We will soon know the full extent but it didn’t look good.
“When you lose a game you try and look at the positives. But, after the game, there wasn’t any because we lost the game and lost a key player.
“Injuries are what every player fears. It is a hard time because things go through your head when injured. There is no better feeling than playing football and, when injured, you can’t do that. You can’t help and have to stay mentally strong.
“We have had a few long-term injuries – Robert Snodgrass, Mo (Odubajo) – and I have been there myself. It is tough but you come back stronger.”
Dawson, meanwhile, is preaching patience as the club’s young players continue to find their feet in the Championship.
The Tigers slipped to a first defeat of the season on Tuesday night as Wolverhampton Wanderers triumphed 3-2 at the KCOM Stadium.
Dawson, as the elder statesman of a back four featuring Max Clark, Ola Aina and Michael Hector that has started every league game this term, said: “There is plenty to build on after three games. If we had nicked a point against Wolves, we would be saying it was a great start.
“Instead, we have won one, drawn one and lost one against two of the tougher teams. What we have to realise is that our young lads are bedding in.
“Ola has not played many games in his career and Max is at left-back. The pair of them and Jarrod (Bowen) have been brilliant.
“They are only going to improve. They are going to make mistakes, we all do that. But it is how you deal with those mistakes that counts.
“We said after the Wolves game that we will all make mistakes and feel the way Ola did on Tuesday night with goals going in.
“It is how you pick yourself up that matters. It is football. This is a group of lads who the manager is trying to improve. We know it is a results business but we are all still learning.”