Former Town loanee Jimmy Bullard has joined the Hull City squad for their pre-season tour of Slovenia. It had been reported that the 32-year-old would be left out of the trip as the Tigers look to offload the midfielder and his £45,000 weekly wage, but with no deal currently in the offing, Bullard, who has two years left on his contract, is being included in Hull’s preparations for 2011/12.
Yesterday, it was reported that the East Yorkshire club had turned down a loan offer from QPR for Bullard with the Tigers only prepared to agree to a further short-term deal if Rangers or another interested party were paying all the one-time England call-up’s wages.
City’s head of football operations Adam Pearson says that with no move currently on the cards, his club's £5 million 2009 signing from Fulham has joined the travelling party: "The situation with Jimmy is that he's gone to Slovenia as part of the first team squad and I genuinely can't see that changing.
"We've had a bit of interest from QPR, as has been widely reported, but that hasn't come to anything.
"Jimmy is fit, he's come back in good shape and he's part of the first team plans for sure. He looks to have a smile on his face and let's hope he can play a part for us."
Despite manager Paul Jewell ruling the Blues out of the race for Bullard’s signature earlier in the summer, the large fee achieved for Connor Wickham may have changed that situation and Town could be monitoring developments regarding last season’s Player of the Year. Earlier in the week, Bullard said a return to Portman Road would make him a "very happy man".
The Town squad, who are continuing pre-season training at Playford Road today, are due to fly out to Holland for their two-game tour on Sunday. Jewell’s men face FC Eindhoven on Tuesday and Den Bosch on Thursday.
Elsewhere, released midfielder Reggie Lambe has failed to win a contract with his former loan club Bristol Rovers. The Bermudian international played for the Pirates in a friendly against Mangotsfield United on Wednesday but failed to impress new boss Paul Buckle.