Hull City weigh up Horgan bid

Hull City head coach Mike Phelan is considering making a bid for Dundalk winger Daryl Horgan during the January transfer window.

Phelan, who was in Dublin on Thursday to watch Dundalk's 1-0 Europa League defeat to AZ Alkmaar at the Tallaght Stadium, says the Galwegian had been recommended by his backroom team following his standout performances against Zenit St Petersburg and Maccabi Tel-Aviv.

"He's a young man that's come on the scene a little bit later than everyone expected and he's enjoyed his football at that level now," said Phelan, whose Hull City side host West Brom at the KCOM Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

"He's played in Europe and it was important that I went to have a look after my scouts had brought him to our attention.

"He's an intelligent football player. He probably didn't show as much as he can on Thursday night.

"I was there to see a couple of players on show and now I'll discuss it with my staff."

Horgan, who received a maiden Republic of Ireland call-up for the World Cup qualifier against Austria this month, is set to leave the League of Ireland champions on a free transfer when his contract expires in January.

West Ham, Sunderland, Newcastle, Ipswich and Birmingham have all sent scouts to watch the in-form winger over the past two months.

Phelan also watched forward Nemanja Nikolic come off the bench to score in Legia Warsaw's Champions League 8-4 defeat to Borussia Dortmund at the Westfalenstadion on Wednesday.

Hull failed to get a £2.5m deal for the Hungary international over the line in August because of work permit issues, but Phelan may make another bid for the 28-year-old in January after losing Will Keane for up to 12 months with a knee injury.

"There's a lot of things that go on in the build-up to windows," Phelan continued.

"A lot of hearsay and speculation, which is only natural.

"We've made no secret of the fact we do need players in and back up what we've already got.

"At the moment we are short in numbers and we do need to give these players an opportunity in the second part of the season to have a chance.

"We're trying to do that but we're competing against everyone else. A lot of clubs in the Premier League, from 10th down, are competing for the same players. How you attract them is the difficult part."

Photo (©Inpho/James Crombie)

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