Hull City owner Acun Ilicali has sought to dispel “false transfer rumours” surrounding his club by providing cryptic clues about their targets before their Premier League return.

In a social media post on Thursday, Ilicali said he was “disturbed” by what he described as incorrect transfer speculation, and resorted to providing the nationalities of 11 of the club’s targets, with assigned percentages regarding how far along the transfers are.

After laying out the club’s three completed signings this summer — goalkeeper Jack Butland, midfielder Oscar Zambrano and defender Matt Targett — Ilicali listed emojis of flags, with two unnamed Japanese players featuring, of which one was labelled at 99 per cent completed.

The Turkish owner, previously Fenerbahce’s vice-president, also listed Portugal, Greece, Senegal, Australia, Sweden, France, Croatia, Jamaica, and Germany and Turkey as the countries their potential signings are from.

Dear Hull City family,

We are reading dozens of false transfer rumors in many places.
We are disturbed by the claims that we have been rejected and by the use of our club’s name to gain attention. We have been working intensively for two months. I believe we will build a team…

— Acun Ilıcalı (@acunilicali) July 23, 2026

One source close to a Hull transfer target, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, is surprised by the open nature of the owner’s social media post, but admits, in their player’s case, he is not far off from being accurate.

“We are reading dozens of false transfer rumours in many places,” Ilicali said on X. “We are disturbed by the claims that we have been rejected and by the use of our club’s name to gain attention. We have been working intensively for two months. I believe we will build a team that we will all be proud of.

“To prevent false speculation and to give you more information, I am leaving you with our latest transfer situation, which includes some clues”.

Hull will play Premier League football for the first time since the 2016-17 season, after beating Middlesbrough 1-0 in the Championship play-off final thanks to Oli McBurnie’s 95th-minute winner.

The club are being aggressive in their summer recruitment and want to swiftly improve their squad following their return to the top-flight. Hull are among the clubs in talks to sign Jamaica international Leon Bailey from Aston Villa, with Turkish outfit Trabzonspor and La Liga club Celta Vigo among the other interested sides.

Ilicali completed his takeover of Hull in January 2022. In July 2025, they were hit with a transfer embargo after failing to maintain transfer payments.

Sources with knowledge of the matter, not authorised to speak publicly, indicated that it related to money owed to Aston Villa for the loan of Louie Barry in January last year. The embargo, which prevented Hull from paying transfer fees, was shortened on appeal.

The Athletic reported earlier this summer that a £6million overspend brought the threat of Hull breaching Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR).

The promoted club believe they were eventually able to raise the necessary funds after selling Ivor Pandur (£6m to Rangers) and Aidon Shehu (£2.5m to Panathinaikos).

CLEVELAND — Two days after their season appeared to be on the brink of disaster, the Minnesota Twins exited The Land with an exhale and a grin.

Surviving a dominant start by Cleveland’s Gavin Williams and then myriad missed opportunities in extra innings, the Twins parlayed an outstanding effort from their own pitching staff into a split of a must-have four-game series.

Taj Bradley and five relievers combined on a three-hitter and the Twins got two-out RBI singles from Trevor Larnach and Luke Keaschall in a 3-1 victory in 12 innings over the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field.

Now, the Twins are only two games under .500 and holding steady as they head home for six games against the moribund Athletics and Kansas City Royals.

“On Tuesday night our world was crashing in, apparently, and now we’re all feeling good again,” reliever Taylor Rogers said. “This is the natural ebbs and flows of a baseball season. As long as we collectively stay even-keel, that’s where we’re going to be. … We knew (Thursday) was a big win and those are nice to get, but nobody is over the moon right now, either. I really think we’re a day-to-day team and that’s why it’s been so fun.”

Nothing about the Twins’ recent history in the late innings at Progressive Field could be characterized as fun. Over the past five seasons, Cleveland has walked off the Twins 10 times, and that doesn’t account for contests decided in the bottom of the eighth inning, either, of which there were many.

Yet the Twins put themselves in that precarious position once again when Alan Roden produced a game-tying, pinch-hit single off Cleveland closer Cade Smith in the eighth inning to make it a 1-1 game.

For five innings, Twins relievers walked the tightrope.

For five innings, they didn’t fall.

Starting with Andrew Morris retiring José Ramírez on a popout to end the eighth inning, Twins relievers posted zeroes. Yoendrys Gómez survived a pair of two-out walks in the ninth by striking out Kyle Manzardo.

Newcomer Tommy Nance pitched a perfect 10th inning to prevent an inherited runner from scoring. Rogers retired the heart of Cleveland’s order in the 11th to strand a pair. And then Jack Anderson, who was promoted Tuesday after getting claimed off waivers from Boston on July 11, waited out a replay challenge and stranded a pair of runners to convert his first big-league save.

“Stressful,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said. “You don’t see extra-inning games where neither team scores for multiple innings.”

Neither team looked particularly good offensively. Bradley and Williams made sure of that with dominant, seven-inning performances in which hitters from both teams rarely looked as if they knew what was coming.

But the lack of sound offense was totally absent until Larnach singled. Before Larnach’s two-out single off lefty Erik Sabrowski, neither team’s first batter had a productive out in extra innings.

Yet Larnach changed it all when he dumped an 0-1 curveball into left field for a go-ahead single. Royce Lewis, who was intentionally walked ahead of Larnach, scored when Keaschall followed with a single of his own.

“I have had some bad experiences here,” Larnach said. “It’s definitely one of my least favorite places to play and maybe that has something to do with it. But there is a respect for them because they’re a gritty and grindy club. They never go away. To not get walked off is amazing, but to come out with a win is even better.”

Here are several other thoughts after the Twins escaped a meat grinder of a road trip with a serviceable 3-4 record.

• Bradley was extremely effective because he was on the plate and featured stuff ticking above his yearly averages. Though he relied on a heavy four-seam fastball and didn’t generate as many swings and misses as normal, Bradley overpowered Cleveland for seven innings.

“It felt like he left off the gas for one pitch and it was the 95-mph fastball,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “Other than that, he was absolute nails.”

Patrick Bailey hammered Bradley’s one mistake fastball, but that was all the Guardians got. When Bradley pitches like this, the Twins can see a frontline starting pitcher capable of winning a game in a short series.

• Though he’s back in action and hitting for power, the Twins are likely to manage Jeffers’ workload the rest of the way, a plan that’s compromised by Victor Caratini’s right knee contusion.

Since returning from a broken left hamate bone on July 10, Jeffers is showing ample power at the plate and his defense is ahead of his bat. But Shelton said Jeffers’ hand won’t be completely healed for several more months, which could prevent him from playing as frequently as he did before breaking his hamate bone on May 18.

“There’s going to be days he feels good,” Shelton said. “There’s going to be days he feels bad. It could be weather dependent. There’s so many factors that come into play. But the aggressiveness of the swings we’ve seen him take, it doesn’t seem like it’s bothering him. … It’s just pure volume that we have to monitor.”

The Twins also must now monitor Caratini after he fouled a pitch off his right knee on Wednesday night and exited the game. X-rays were negative and the veteran catcher’s condition has improved, but Shelton said he’s unlikely to catch until at least Saturday.

• Connor Prielipp felt good after throwing a bullpen Thursday and could return to the Twins’ starting rotation to fill the vacancy for Saturday’s start against the Athletics. Prielipp emerged healthy from a successful Triple-A rehab start on Sunday. Wanting to check out his blister and monitor his next bullpen, the Twins had Prielipp join the team in Cleveland.

Prielipp went on the 15-day injured list on July 9. He’s combined to throw a personal professional-high 85 1/3 innings this season after pitching 82 2/3 innings in 2025.

The Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals clash in the first of a four-game series on Thursday at Comerica Park, at 6:40 p.m. ET. Troy Melton (5-1, 1.80 ERA) gets the start for the Tigers, who are 48-54 this season and fourth in the AL Central. Randy Dobnak (0-0, 1.93 ERA) is the expected starter for the Royals, who are 43-60 and fifth in the AL Central.

How to watch Kansas City Royals vs. Detroit Tigers

Royals vs. Tigers odds

• Favorite Moneyline: Tigers -235
• Underdog Moneyline: Royals +195
• Total: 8.5
• Total Over Odds: -105
• Total Under Odds: -115

Injury reports

Tigers

Jack Flaherty: 15 Day IL (Flexor), Jackson Jobe: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Trey Sweeney: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Bailey Horn: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Parker Meadows: 60 Day IL (Head/arm), Burch Smith: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Javier Baez: 60 Day IL (Ankle), Reese Olson: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Will Vest: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Wenceel Perez: 60 Day IL (Face), Brant Hurter: 60 Day IL (Back), Justin Verlander: 60 Day IL (Hip), Casey Mize: day-to-day (Groin)

Royals

Kyle Isbel: 10 Day IL (Foot), Bobby Witt Jr.: 10 Day IL (Back), Maikel Garcia: 10 Day IL (Hand), Connor Seabold: 15 Day IL (Lat), Jonathan India: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Cole Ragans: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Alec Marsh: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Kris Bubic: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Carlos Estévez: 60 Day IL (Foot), Nick Mears: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Stephen Kolek: 60 Day IL (Flexor), James McArthur: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Jac Caglianone: day-to-day (Shoulder)

Stats to know

• Detroit’s Kevin McGonigle has hit nine home runs this season. He has also tallied 35 RBIs and has scored 61 runs. In 439 plate appearances, he has recorded a .282 BA, .390 OBP and .424 SLG with a 14.4% walk rate and a 13.9% strikeout rate. He has been effective on the base paths, recording 11 steals on 12 attempts.
• In 387 plate appearances, Dillon Dingler has hit 22 long balls (12th in MLB), tallied 65 RBIs (13th in MLB) and scored 53 runs. He is batting .271/.335/.533 and has posted a 21.2% strikeout rate and a 6.2% walk rate.
• Carter Jensen has hit 14 home runs this season. He has also tallied 52 RBIs and has scored 44 runs. In 373 plate appearances, he has recorded a .240 BA, .308 OBP and .432 SLG with a 9.1% walk rate and a 28.4% strikeout rate.
• In 367 plate appearances, Jac Caglianone has hit 16 long balls, tallied 37 RBIs and scored 46 runs. He is batting .258/.316/.463 and has posted a 28.6% strikeout rate and a 6.8% walk rate.

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