This week has seen a potential masterstroke from Hull City chairman Adam Pearson – the signing of Amir Zaki on a loan deal until the end of the season.

The Egyptian striker has had something of a chequered history, falling out with several managers. He has a reputation of being someone tricky to manage, and seemingly the sort of player that City boss Phil Brown has a tendency to fall out with.

At least this deal is structured in a no-lose scenario for City. They’ve taken a punt on someone who can be a great premier League striker on his day, and is more than capable of scoring the goals to keep City in the division. That’s all this deal is, a short term, short risk punt that’s got to be worth taking on a player with plenty to prove to his critics in this country.

It’s unlikely the deal will extend beyond this season; should he do well, the bigger clubs will surely be seeking his signature in the summer, if he disappoints City will release him and cut bag their wage bill even further.

Whether Brown can get the best out of Zaki remains to be seen, but he’s better on paper than any of our current options. What will be interesting is how this affects other strikers at the club. Folan will likely move on in the current window, Vennegoor has attracted interest but is on a massive contract, Altidore can’t be moved out and Ghlias was a new signing in the summer.

Surely the club can’t keep paying all of them? Pearson must have worked out the deal so that City could afford to sign Zaki, but it’s difficult to know how those deemed surplus to requirements will be shipped out.

Not really been making questions knocking about, but here’s a couple of old ones that were knocking about that I still thought were relevant.

Dru asked: Again as a fairly new EPL fan I may not be as educated as most. However, it seems as though there is almost no activity going on right now in the January transfer window. Is it the economy or some other factor?

It’s hard to say really. The January window’s has been in place for several years now, and creates a blind panic, as clubs desperate try to bring in players they need. It’s really stupid, and instead of curbing spending, has really just resulted in inflated fees and panic buys.

There tends to be a bit of activity in the first week, as pre-arranged deals go through, before this mad dash in the last couple of days. The big deals tend to occur in the summer (like Ronaldo and Kaka to Real Madrid for example).

The global economy also has an effect; many of the bigger clubs such as Man Utd and Liverpool are crippled by debt, and don’t really have much cash to throw around, which stifles activity down the chain. I’d be surprised if a really big signing is made by anyone, but things will definitely pick up by this time next week.

Mike asked: Do you know what's the matter with Geo? On paper I see him helping us stay up, but his recent form makes me agree he should be auctioned to the highest bidder. Is it the cold? Is he sulking?

It’s difficult to say. Last season he followed a similar pattern, excellent until late September (if you’d done a poll in October for player of the season so far, Geo would have walked it), and then disappointing as the weather turns colder.

It seems too simple to just blame the cold weather, and he’s still trying, it’s just he gives the ball away far too often. Maybe his head is down a bit because Bullard has become the ‘main man’ now at the KC? Maybe he’s playing too deep in the current formation; I still don’t think any City fan really knows what his best position is.

If a decent offer came in for Geo, I’m sure we’d sell him. He’s one of the few who could attract any sort of transfer fee, which would be greatly appreciated I’m sure. I’d hate to see him go, because he’s still one of our most skilful players, and a really handy man to have on the bench, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he is sold in the next week or two.

Ooh, almost forgot, the weekend. Obviously Man Utd away is always a tough game. If we get anything it’s a great result. They’ll be hurting after defeat midweek to local rivals Man City, so we have to expect a bit of a backlash. They’re still missing key men, so it’s not a bad time for City to play them. Hopefully we can go one better than last season, where City played really well but lost 4-3. Hopefully Brown will play a 4-4-2 and have a go, I really don’t see last week’s stifling tactics working at Old Trafford, and Burnley showed last weekend that the Red Devils are vulnerable at the back.

Cheers,
TC.