RYAN Giles has opened up on his summer of transfer uncertainty and the talk of a possible Middlesbrough return, admitting "conversations" took place but insisting it's now all behind him and he's "110 per cent" focused on Hull City.
Giles initially joined Hull on loan from Luton in January and the Tigers were then obligated to make the deal permanent in the summer.
But when Boro's interest in the left-back emerged, there was initial interest from all parties to strike a deal.
Discussions between Boro and the Tigers took place and Giles was understood to have been keen on a return to the Riverside, where he flourished during a loan move in the 2022/23 season.
But an agreement couldn't be reached and, unwilling to risk missing out on other targets as was the case last summer when Boro tried to sign Giles, attention turned elsewhere with Neto Borges eventually arriving from Clermont.
Giles ended up staying at Hull, though he has now lost his place in Tim Walter's side and been on the bench for the last four games.
But he says he's put the summer of uncertainty behind him and is only focused on getting his stuttering career back on track at the MKM Stadium.
"I stayed out of it, like I said, I'll go back to being professional, that's the job of a professional," Giles told BBC Humberside, reflecting on the summer transfer talk.
"There's talks on the internet, on social media, and I get all of that. My job was to keep my head down and keep doing what I was doing.
"I was a Hull City player and as long as I was that, I wanted to give one hundred and 10 per cent, and I want that to come across to everybody else, as well.
"It's not a case of me shying away from things, everybody's got their opinion at the end of the day and I completely respect that, I really do respect that. It's my job as a professional to get my head down and do my best for Hull City and that's ultimately what I want as a Hull City player, I just want to do well at this football club, it's as simple as that.
"Listen, there were conversations, of course there were. I'm not going to shy away from it and lie about it, but I obviously only joined the club as a permanent in the summer, I know I was here in January but that was obviously as a loan.
"I had the conversations, it wasn't the case of me saying 'I want to leave', it wasn't that, we had a conversation and that was that. The club made it clear they wanted me to stay and I respected that."
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Giles added: "Listen, I'm a professional, that's my job, there's always noise, there's always talk. There's things on social media, but I think for me as a footballer, and at the end of the day, I was a Hull City player and that was that for me, really, I just tried to get my head down and get on with things."
After weeks of speculation in the summer, Hull's vice-chairman Tan Kesler told Giles to focus on repaying the faith the Tigers showed when they signed the full-back.
Giles said: "Tan's come out and said they've invested a lot of money into me, which they have, and I won't shy away from that, and I know there's a big responsibility on me as a player to step up and that's ultimately what I aim to do here.
"I want to show the fans, I want to show the club, I want to show everybody that they've made the right decision and it's as simple as that.
"I get it, it's tough to watch at times, and you listen to things but as I said, I'm a professional and I have to put it to the back of my head and get on with things. I was a Hull City player and I wanted to give one hundred and 10 per cent, it was as simple as that, really.
"I'm still here now and that's what I intend to do. I'll keep working, I'm not the finished article, there's still plenty of things I can work on, I just want to improve and keep doing well.
"I'm a Hull City player and I want to make it very clear that I'll give one hundred and 10 per cent for this club, I want to do well here. It's not a case of looking elsewhere, it's nothing like that, I'm here to do well and help the team, climb up that table and get to where we want to be."
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