Sergej Jakirovic speaks on Hull’s promotion to the Premier League, being tipped for relegation, transfer plans and much more.
Following the Championship playoff final win against Middlesbrough, the 49 year old has spoke to the Croatian sports newspaper Sportske Novosti, and what a read it is too.
He spoke on a range of topics put to him, including comparing football in England and Croatia, praised Sunderland, saying they’re his guiding principle this summer, and some transfer targets he has in mind.
š„ Hull City manager Sergej JakiroviÄ:
āI came here to keep Hull City in the Championshipā¦ but I failedā¦!
Because we are going to the Premier League šā pic.twitter.com/2VYoQ7EP9n
ā 90+ Arena (@90arena) May 26, 2026
95th minute winner sees Hull City beat Middlesbrough in Championship playoff final
He said, as per Sportske Novosti: “In the first few days I thought I might need to pinch myself to make sure that it all really happened, that we had made it to the Premier League
“I’ve received so many messages, so many people approach me on the streets and wherever I go. Now I’m just realising how much our game was watched and followed in Croatia. Last year, I watched Sheffield United – Sunderland on television competing in that game with the highest stakes in the world, and now I was a part of it all right on the pitch. However, I immediately remember the work that still awaits us and quickly come down to earth.
On transfer plans to have any chance of staying in the Premier League?
We expect that the skeleton of the 12 main players who performed this season will remain, which means that we need 12 to 15 reinforcements.
The boss and I talked, but he didn’t say anything about the money, we still need to sit down seriously. However, we do know some information. Coventry, as the winner of the Championship last season, plans to invest around 40 million euros in reinforcements, but they have had an expensive and strong team with which they attacked the Premier League for two years. Ipswich is reportedly preparing around 80 million. For some comparison, Sunderland, as a newcomer to the Premier League last summer, invested around 120 million in reinforcements and immediately finished seventh, qualifying for the Europa League.
On what Sunderland did?
Sunderland is my guiding principle, the club has recognised, conditionally speaking, cheaper, but very good players, mainly in Belgium and France. To get 120 million for reinforcements… That’s a dream, I don’t believe we will have that much money available, but we’ll see. Basically, there are no more bans, we can pay compensation. We have a very good sporting director, Jared Dublin, who used to be a scout and knows the players very well.
Whose last one is it, yours or Dublin’s?
It’s my last one, but we work together great and always agree. There’s not much philosophy, Dublin and his team will make a list of possible reinforcements and we’ll filter and choose from them.
On looking at reinforcements in the SHNL (SuperSport Hrvatska Nogometna Liga, Croatia’s top tier) as well?
I’m looking, of course. There are players in our league that are interesting to us, but we still need to see what their price will be and whether we will have players in their positions who might be more acceptable to us.
Last summer you wanted Hoxha from Dinamo.
– It’s true, Hoxha was our target, but because of the ban we couldn’t pay compensation and Dinamo didn’t want to let him go. I also wanted to bring PukÅ”tas from Hajduk and Fruko from Rijeka, but you can’t if you don’t pay compensation… All these are players who would be reinforcements for us in the Championship.
On reinforcements in the Premier League?
– I believe so, they are great players. I know Hoxha well from Dinamo, PukÅ”tas has fantastic predispositions, Fruk is brilliant in the final. They will certainly all be part of our analysis and discussions, but it is too early to draw any conclusions. We need to see how much money we will have available and who we will be in a position to bring in.
Playoff winners Hull go viral with video mocking those who ‘hated’ and predicted them to go down
On if he think players from the SHNL can play in the Premier League?
– The ones I listed certainly can. Otherwise, why doubt the quality of the players who dominate our league? Those with true ambition always find their way.
On StojkoviÄ, the first player you brought to Dinamo as a coach.
– I called him right after I signed the contract for Dinamo and told him that I expect him at training tomorrow. I saw in Lokomotiva that he is a great player and that he belongs in Dinamo. Yes, StojkoviÄ is also a player I would like to see in Hull.
On his contract?
– On Monday, I had a conversation with the boss and he said that he was preparing a new contract for me. I have one more year left in my current contract, with the club having the option to extend it for another year. We will see, but it is normal for me to get a new contract, after all, we are now a club in the Premier League.
On being the early favourite to be relegated from the Premier League…
It was the same last summer, so instead of being relegated, we entered the PL. Immediately after we qualified, I said that for me this is just the beginning. Everyone keeps telling me “You have to survive that first season”. They said the same thing last season when Burnley, Leeds and Sunderland entered. And everyone thought that all three clubs would be relegated. However, only Burnley was relegated, who had previously “run over” the Championship with more than 100 points won, and Leeds and Sunderland shone in that elite company. We will survive too. I don’t know fear, I only see a big challenge, both for me and for the entire club. There are clubs that we will definitely be able to compete with.
On how different English football is to Croatia?
– It’s very different. First of all, they have a lot of money. Then comes their football environment, as well as their mentality. In England, there’s not much euphoria, but there’s also no depression, because you play a game every three days and you don’t have time to think about what happened in the past. And their football culture is something really special.
I mean everything. When I first told the players “we have to give it our all”, they all looked at me in amazement. “Boss, we always give it our all, is there any way it could be different?” And that’s really true. They don’t care if they’re first, seventh or 20th, they always give it their all. And there’s no way anyone gets even a millimeter of discount because they need it and we don’t. And the fans? The stadiums are packed, and the fans only boo when you really deserve it. They booed us twice and both times we were really bad.
We go on a bus trip, and there’s no police anywhere. We arrive at the hotel, there’s still no police. On the day of the match, we head to the stadium, and there’s no police anywhere. It’s a little different here…
On infrastructure?
– We have three training pitches just for the first team, which is more than enough. We also have a gym, a kitchen, saunas… The Academy has a camp at another location. However, we don’t have a good pitch, it was really bad in the spring and everyone complained about it. That’s because we share the pitch with the rugby team and now the boss is working on separating it. Well, not everything is perfect in England sometimes.
On the most difficult thing for in England compared to when a coach of Dinamo or Rijeka?
There you don’t have time to train what you want to play or to integrate. There’s a game every three days and it all comes down to video analysis and preparation. Let’s say that through video meetings you try to visualize how we want to play. We worked on the field throughout the summer and during the first three international breaks. There you have time, a normal microcycle and you can do a lot. When you get into the rhythm of games every three days, then it’s just watching videos and talking.
On the relationship with the players, and how that’s different to in Croatia?
All players in the world are the same. They are all happy when they play and unhappy when they don’t. I had a few meetings where I told them that I understood everything and figured it out. But I warned them right away that everyone would get a chance, because in the Championship there’s no way you wouldn’t get a chance. I told them that literally all of them are equally important to me and that we can’t make it through the season if they don’t all get minutes.
On how the guys reacted?
Positive! One of my players said that for the first time he saw how happy all 26 players were in the locker room, that they were genuinely happy for each other. That’s the most I’ve managed to do as a coach. I created a team that breathed together, and that’s the most important thing in team sports. Without that, there’s no way you can do anything. And without a good atmosphere in the club. I even said that the ban on paying compensation for reinforcements helped us in terms of creating unity and chemistry among the players. We were doomed to each other.
Read more of the interview HERE and translate to English!
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