AHMED ELMOHAMADY has claimed he was "unfairly treated" at Sunderland, and described his subsequent success with Hull City as a vindication of his talents.

Elmohamady is set to complete a permanent transfer to the Tigers this summer after the Black Cats accepted an offer of around £2m for his services earlier this week.

The Egypt international moved to the KC Stadium on loan at the start of last season, having failed to convince former Sunderland boss Martin O'Neill that he was deserving of a place in the first team.

He helped Hull win promotion to the Premier League, and ended the season as the East Yorkshire club's Player of the Year, and feels his success proves O'Neill made a mistake when he opted to cast him out of his squad.

"I was very happy to win it because it kind of compensated for a rough season with Sunderland where I feel that I was unfairly treated," said Elmohamady. "The coach (O'Neill) perhaps heard some things, chose certain players and dropped others, and I was unjustly sidelined in the process.

"But this season I was very focused and God rewarded me with promotion and with the Player of the Year award. So it was an exceptional season for me."

By moving to Hull, Elmohamady was able to reunite himself with Steve Bruce, the manager who took him to Sunderland in the first place.

Bruce formed a close relationship with Elmohamady when the pair were together on Wearside, and the winger feels the former Black Cats boss is one of the best man-managers he has worked with.

"Steve is a very respectable man," he said. "He always asks about the players, checks on their personal lives, their problems, their families.

"When I first met up with him, he told me, 'I have had experiences with Egyptian players like Amr Zaki and Mido, who are good players, but in terms of mentality, you have to do better. To stay here, you have to be disciplined'.

"If you are 50 per cent a good player and 50 per cent disciplined it's better for me than being 90 per cent talented and 10 per cent disciplined. I took those words and now have them engraved on my brain.

"When my team-mates at Sunderland heard I was moving to Hull and will reunite with Steve, they were joking with me and telling me I was returning to my 'father'.

"It was a risk for me to move from the Premier League to the Championship but I talked to Steve and he promised me that if I join Hull, I can help them get promoted to the Premier League.

"He told me, 'Don't worry, it's not a risky move. If this was too risky for you I wouldn't advise you to come'.

"So it was a very good thing for me to play with a coach who knows me and understands my capabilities."