Hull City’s Turkish owner Acun Ilicali remains keen to invest in a club abroad

Hull City owner Acun Ilicali was photographed during the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division match between St Patrick’s Athletic and Shelbourne at Richmond Park in Dublin. The Tigers owner is keen on investing in a club abroad after talks over a potential takeover at Dundalk took place last month.

Hull Live understands he was at the home of the Lillywhites last month to discuss potential terms of a deal, but so far, nothing has been set in stone and the Turkish owner remains open-minded. Ilicali is keen to invest in a League of Ireland club and held positive talks with Statsports, the owners of the Oriel Park club.

The Irish club has since moved to ease concerns from supporters about a perspective buyout from the Hull City owner.

The Hull City chief watched on as St Patrick’s Athletic ran out 1-0 winners over Shelbourne on Friday, February 24. There’s been no indication as to whether Ilicali has moved on from Dundalk talks, or he was simply taking in a separate game.

Last week, City boss Liam Rosenior said a decision to invest in Dundalk was a sign of significant progress off the pitch.

It’s fantastic,” Rosenior told Hull Live. “I keep talking about Brighton, and that’s because I was there for a long time and I understand what it takes (to be successful), they’re doing it and so are Manchester City. Their model (Brighton) is incredible. We signed Yuriel Celi – the Peruvian player, and this shows the level that we want to get to, it shows the ambition of this football club.

“It’s a journey, we’re not there yet but it’s a process and it’s the same for me and this football team. We’re looking to attain to being a real force in English football, and the only person we can really thank for that is Acun.

“There’s no point us playing in a certain way and Dundalk not playing in that way. Everything is aligned, there’s a lot of thought and planning that’s gone into that.”