Having brought in several new faces during the January transfer window, Hull City completed their business with the deadline day signing of Poland international midfielder Kamil Grosicki from French side Rennes for an undisclosed fee, believed to be £7 million.
The 28-year-old winger agreed a three-and-a-half-year contract at the KCOM Stadium, and having been linked with Everton, West Ham United and Burnley, could represent something of a coup for the Tigers, and help fill the void left by Robert Snodgrass’ departure to the Hammers.
The History
Grosicki began his career at hometown club Pogoń Szczecin, and scored two goals in 23 appearances in his first season as a professional in 2006/07.
In the summer of 2007, Grosicki secured a move to Legia Warsaw but, after making just 11 appearances for his new club, requested a loan move due to personal reasons.
The midfielder initially moved to Swiss side Sion and registered two goals and a pair of assists in eight league outings before joining Polish side Jagiellonia Białystok on loan in February 2009.
He impressed during his temporary stint, with four goals and as many assists helping secure a permanent move ahead of 2009/10.
Grosicki enjoyed a strong campaign that year, registering four goals and six assists, with his impressive performances eventually securing a move to Turkish outfit Sivasspor in January 2011 for a fee of around £900,000.
The Pole would spend the next three years in Turkey, serving up 16 goals and 26 assists in 104 matches before signing for Rennes in January 2014.
Grosicki fared pretty well during his first six months at the club, managing three assists in 13 league appearances, but really found his form during the 2015/16 season, when he registered nine goals and four assists in 33 league matches.
During the first half of this season, Grosicki scored four goals and accrued three assists in 16 league outings.
Grosicki represented Poland at U18 and U21 levels, before making his senior debut as a substitute against Finland in February 2008.
He currently has 48 caps to his name to date, and has racked up an impressive nine goals and 14 assists.
The Prospects
Given Grosicki’s pedigree, particularly on the international stage, there’s every expectation he’ll be a regular starter in Silva’s new-look Hull side.
His main competition for a starting place looks to come from the likes of Lazar Markovic, Adama Diomande and perhaps Oumar Niasse, who can play on the right, as well as his preferred position as a central striker.
While Silva has trialled different systems during his time in charge at the KCOM Stadium so far, using a 3-5-1-1 in the 3-1 win over Bournemouth, and his favoured 4-2-3-1 in the 2-1 triumph over Man United in the EFL Cup semi-final second leg, it’s the latter that is expected to be used moving forward.
Grosicki looks perfectly suited for the position on the right of the attacking midfield trio, then, although he is also equally comfortable playing on the opposite flank.
The Pole’s strengths include his pace, dribbling and ability to pick out key passes in the final third, while his goal scoring record has improved over the past few seasons.
Looking at his underlying statistics so far this season, assessing them against those of the departed Snodgrass, it’s the Poland international who comes out on top.
Grosicki has averaged a goal attempt every 31.9 minutes, compared to every 46.2 minutes for the Scot, while the Poland international has created a chance every 39.6 minutes, slightly better than Snodgrass (every 40 minutes).
Whilst Rennes have been enjoying a more fruitful campaign than Hull, currently sat in ninth place in Ligue 1, meaning Grosicki should have had more opportunities to score and create, they at least provide an indicator he should be able to compensate for the loss of Snodgrass.
Grosicki’s price of 5.5 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) looks fair for a player who was so impressive during Poland’s run to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016.
Should the winger be able to settle quickly, and providing Silva can continue to integrate all of his new signings as impressively as he has done up to this point, he could well be a player to watch for the second half of the season.
Hull players are of particular interest for FPL bosses, given that they are one of only six teams guaranteed a fixture in Gameweek 28, where they entertain Swansea City, due to the FA Cup sixth round taking place on the same weekend.
That match comes in the middle of a very favourable run (BUR, lei, SWA, eve, WHM, MID) for Silva’s side, so their next two matches against Liverpool and Arsenal look ideal for assessing Grosicki and the rest of the new faces at the KCOM Stadium.
While many saw the exits of Jake Livermore and Snodgrass as signs of Hull waving the white flag, the performances under Silva have generally been very positive, so while Hull players haven’t featured prominently in our thoughts so far this season, that may be about to change.
By the time the kind run of fixtures gets underway, we’ll hopefully have a clearer picture of Silva’s favoured starting XI. Grosicki is expected to be a key part of the puzzle, though, and, as we’ve seen many times over the years, relegation candidates have a handy habit of offering up differential candidates in the final few months of the season when the battle to beat the drop intensifies.
