Why Ryan Tafazolli’s signing was a good decision by Hull City?

Ryan Tafazolli signed a 2-year deal with Hull City after the expiration of his contract with Peterborough United. He was part of Southampton’s academy, but failed to impress the club and was released. He moved to Concord Rangers and then to Cambridge City before landing a transfer to Mansfield Town in 2012. The 27-year-old stayed there for 4 years and made more than a hundred appearances for the Stags. He joined Peterborough United in 2016, where the current Hull City Head Coach Grant McCann was in charge.

Now the Iranian defender has joined Hull City, who improved their position in the Championship last season but would be aiming higher in this campaign. Currently, they are a 20/1 shot to secure Premier League promotion while their odds for finishing in the Top 6 are 9/1, according to the bookmaker Bet365. The odds are suggesting that Hull City are very unlikely to finish in the bottom half this season. The odds for this result, according to Betfair, is 8/15 while William Hill’s offered odds are 4/9. You can get Gentingbet welcome bonus today with thebookiesoffers.co.uk and be ready to wager your money on any of the above outcomes. 

Grant McCann knows Ryan Tafazolli well and he seems to trust the Iranian very much. However, the defender’s lack of experience in the Championship should be a big area of concern for him. Though Tafazolli’s performances earned him a big name in League One, the Championship is a bigger and completely different challenge for him. 

City fans got to see his game during the friendly match against Leyton Orient, the National League trophy holders of the 2018-19 season. Tafazolli and Reece Burke formed a centre-back partnership in that game, and the pair looked very promising for Hull City. In that match, some of his qualities quickly became apparent; he was dominant in the air while his leadership skills were also very visible. He was resolute at the back and quickly snuffed out any danger in his area. 

Ryan Tafazolli even earned an assist to his name in that match, by flicking a corner towards Burke who fired City ahead. The match ended in a draw after Dale Gorman converted a free-kick into a superb goal, for which Tafazolli was blameless. 

His second trial came against Lincoln Red Imps, and this time the other back three were all academy players, including Eric Lichaj, Jacob Greaves and Matty Jacob. With the score at 1-1, he made an instant impact after coming on at the interval. He headed in Tyler Hamilton’s corner to provide the decisive goal and win the match for Hull City. 

He also got a brief introduction against Mansfield Town, but his performances couldn’t be judged in that encounter because he was featured after 89 minutes of the game. Based on these two performances of Ryan Tafazolli, McCann seems to have made a very good decision by bringing the impressive defender to Hull City. He looks to play a big part in fulfilling Hull City’s aims this year.