HULL City owner Acun Ilicali has opened up on the club's need to be cautious in the summer transfer window after "pushing their finances to the limit" last season - with a growing expectation on Humberside that Ryan Giles will return to Middlesbrough.

The Tigers are set for a huge financial boost, with Jacob Greaves and Jaden Philogene closing in on Premier League moves, but City will have to temper their own spending to ensure they comply with financial fair play regulations.

So far, City's only signing this summer is Giles but the Tigers are braced for the wing-back returning to Middlesbrough. Hull - who were obligated to make Giles' loan deal from Luton permanent this summer - are aware of the 24-year-old's desire to return to Teesside, where he starred in the 2022/23 season.

The preference at the Riverside would be an initial loan but a permanent deal isn't out of the question. Boro, though, would be reluctant to match the £4m Hull paid Luton.

The Tigers need to trade this summer as they look to assemble a squad to build on last season's seventh-place finish in the Championship.

Greaves is set for Ipswich and looked like being joined by Philogene, but Everton have now entered the race to sign the former Aston Villa forward.

Over the course of the last week, there's been growing noise from the Hull end about the increasing likelihood of Giles leaving for Boro, even though he only signed last month.

Hull were obligated to make the deal permanent as part of the loan agreement with Luton back in January. That was when Liam Rosenior was manager but he's since been replaced by Tim Walter.

Although Giles initially featured prominently after joining Hull, he didn't start any of the last eight games of the season. It's understood Giles knows now with hindsight that he should have joined Boro last summer on the back of his hugely impressive loan spell at the Riverside rather than move to Luton.

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Ilicali insists he will do everything in his power to make Hull competitive this season.

He told Hull Live: "First of all, our aim is to make the best team for this club, but of course, I'm sure that the fans will understand how big a squad we had last year. We were pushing every limit. After January, I think we had one of the best-ever squads in Hull City's history with the good loans, plus good players we had.

"Sometimes in Financial Fair Play, you can go very high but when it comes to a certain time, you have to go a little down because of this. You know, the three-year total, £40m (losses) rule is applied in the Championship, so last year we pushed our finances to the limits. We will use all our limits again, though I don't want our fans to worry about it.

"We will use both of their (Greaves and Philogene) income. It will be used for the club. This time the Financial Fair Play will not let me use money from myself. We will bring in new players but don't think their money plus my money can be used, because I'm afraid it cannot because then we would pass the limit.

"Yes, we have to be careful. We are calculating everything one by one, so this is like a big mathematics task that we are discussing every day from every angle. If you spend more in the Championship, this time you have to spend less in the other year to make an average of £14m per year.

"For example, you can spend £20m like we did last year, but in the next year, you cannot spend £20m again because then this time you're going to pass the £40m limit for the three-year period."