Matt Crooks says he got to fulfil a lifelong dream of playing in the USA but is “buzzing” to be back in England after penning a deal with Hull City.
The former Middlesbrough favourite became City’s first signing of the January transfer window and of Ruben Selles’ reign as Tigers boss when he penned a two-and-a-half-year contract at the MKM Stadium, having opted to leave MLS side Real Salt Lake after less than a year in Utah.
City fans will have to wait to see him in action, with him unlikely to be involved against Doncaster Rovers in the FA Cup on Sunday afternoon, but he is expected to make his debut when Championship football returns at Millwall next weekend.
“I’m buzzing to finally get it done and excited to get started,” the 6’4” midfielder confessed. “I said to my agent I wanted to explore coming back to England and playing over here. I got a phone call from Jared (Dublin, City’s sporting director), and that’s how it started.
“I’m grateful to Salt Lake for the experience and what they were able to give me; it was something I always wanted to do as a kid, and that’s one thing ticked off that I always wanted to do. I’m thankful I went over but also happy to be here. I learned a lot about myself and I’m trying to be a leader.
“The club’s got ambition, the chairman’s got ambition. Although it’s been a difficult start to the season for the lads, I’m sure we can push on and I’m here to help the best way I can. I’m looking forward to it and I’ll always give one hundred per cent for the club while I’ve got the shirt on.”
Boss Selles, who has to be patient to get his first signing through the door, says Crooks’ vast experience of Championship football, having clocked up more than a century of appearances, was crucial.
“When we speak about the players, we are very specific of what we want from a player,” the Tigers boss told Hull Live. “In the situation that we are in right now, the priority was to have some experience in the league, and Matt has a lot of experience in the league, a player in the midfield position to complement the other midfielders that we have.
“He’s a player that has a good final third end product with the physicality that we demand that is also actually a threat in set-plays, and can arrive but at the same time can defend in the conditions that we want, so I think it’s a very good addition into the team and that competitiveness into our squad.”
Crooks has not featured since his final MLS outing in late October so he will not be involved this weekend. And Selles says the challenge for both the 30-year-old and the club itself is getting him up to speed quickly, but also treading carefully given the plethora of injuries the club already has.
“That’s the thing that we need to measure because, obviously, the fact that he has not been playing, he’s not match fit, so we will need to build it,” he said. “But we need an immediate impact so it’s going to be a challenge for the first three or four weeks of himself with the team to be able to play games, to be able to be fresh and don’t take any injuries – that is going to be the challenge for us.”