JUST IN: Hull City’s transfer scenario with Championship opponents is something I genuinely doubt. However…

No matter the division Hull City find themselves in next season, they will have to fend off interest in some of their players, and that is not something that should be viewed as a negative. In fact, it’s the opposite.

City have 12 games to go and they’ll hope three more in the play-offs to earn their place back in the Premier League after a seven-year absence, which would dramatically change their recruitment plans in the summer and the overall landscape of the club.

The big question being asked by many supporters is what happens should the Tigers not secure promotion and face up to the prospect of playing Championship football once again next season, but the fact these conversations are even taking place is positive.

Having players that are at the top of their game and attracting interest from big Premier League clubs is a mark of not only their progress, but that of the team.

City are in the play-off pack. After 34 games, they’re the sixth-best team in the league, and if they can maintain this form in the remaining 12 games, then they’ll have a shot at promotion. Suffice it to say, they’re in an envious position a good 18 of their adversaries would happily swap with.

Interest has always been there in Jaden Philogene and so, too, Jacob Greaves. Philogene had no shortage of suitors last summer when City snared him from Aston Villa in a deal worth a little under £5m, and his form in the 20 league games he’s played this season has only further enhanced that interest, but the Tigers hold all the aces.