Hull City 'keen' on signing striker who labelled Preston North End's manager 'top class'

Hull City are reportedly eyeing a move for a player Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom knows well.

The 28-year-old has just suffered relegation with Spanish club Las Palmas, whom McBurnie joined last summer after leaving Sheffield United on a free transfer. It has been reported that the front man could be available for nothing now, due to a relegation clause in his contract.

McBurnie signed a three-year deal with the La Liga club and provided 11 goal contributions, but they finished 19th after 37 matches. And manager-less Hull, who stayed up on the final day of the season along with PNE, are said to be keen on luring McBurnie back to Yorkshire.

The Scotland international played under Heckingbottom at Bramall Lane and the two won promotion to the Premier League together in 2023. McBurnie was also signed on loan by the PNE boss during his spell at Barnsley, though Heckingbottom left for Leeds United the following month.

In the 2023/24 Premier League, Heckingbottom lasted until early December. A couple of months prior, McBurnie had publicly stuck up for Heckingbottom - whom supporters were venting frustration at.

"It's ridiculous,” said McBurnie to BBC Sheffield. “The things the gaffer has done and the way that he goes about his business and what he's done with us...

“If you look at his win ratio and where he's taken us from with what he's had, I don't think there's many people in the country who could have done that. The boys are one million per cent behind him; I'm one million per cent behind him. He's top class."

“I know what he can do.”

The potential availability of McBurnie is certainly an interesting development, after PNE waved goodbye to last season’s top goal scorer in the league, Emil Riis. North End have also sold striker Layton Stewart and Ched Evans will no longer play, so there are clear vacancies in the forward department. Heckingbottom spoke highly of McBurnie in August 2023, after he was linked with Yorkshire rivals Leeds.

“Everyone knows the relationship between me and Oli is a bit of tough love,” said Heckingbottom. “I’ve got loads of time for him, but I also know that certainly the last few years at Sheffield United, people haven’t seen him at his best; what I know he can do and what he knows he can do.

“He’ll be pushed towards that, and if we fall a little bit short it’s better than accepting where we are now, so that’s the approach – he’ll be pushed and pushed. We worked with him, challenged him and pushed him, and didn’t take no for an answer.”

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