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Hull City’s comeback to the Premier League appears set to go in only one of two directions: extremely well or catastrophically.

Staying up in the Premier League as a newly promoted side is never straightforward, but Hull City have chosen to tackle the challenge as if it were a game of Monopoly — because, realistically, they have little alternative.

The Tigers have effectively thrown their entire wallet on to the table, taking a roll of the dice on several summer signings.

It is an ambitious and high-risk plan that will either be remembered as a recruitment masterstroke or send them straight back to where they came from, without passing go.

To understand why Hull’s decision-makers felt they had to reshape the dressing room so drastically, it is necessary to look at how they reached this point.

From a statistical point of view, Hull were among the weakest teams ever to win promotion from the Championship. Their underlying numbers suggested a side significantly outperforming both their Expected Goals (xG) and points totals, depending on moments of individual brilliance to carry them over the line.

Had they gone into the top flight with exactly the same core group, Sergej Jakirovic would have been badly under-equipped. The squad was crying out for major repair, and the club have therefore gone for a partial reset.

The profile of the new arrivals says plenty on its own. Hull have attacked the market for players of a level that could be seen as top-end Championship quality, such as Joe Gelhardt, Luke Herrington, Jack Butland and Matt Targett.

They have also added wildcards to Jakirovic’s squad in the shape of Konstantinos Tzolakis and Nobel Mendy — players still largely unknown in English football, but who could eventually be viewed as lower-end Premier League operators.

Through no fault of their own, Hull City are placing a major bet on second-tier standouts making the jump, while lower-end top-flight names settle quickly and deliver immediately, all at the same time.

The reality is quite simple: if any of these players were already the complete package, clubs far higher up the football ladder would have moved for them.

They are available to a club in Hull’s position only because better-established sides still have doubts over their ceiling, consistency or physical durability.

No signing captures this strategy more clearly than Lucas Gourna-Douath. Once tipped as one of European football’s leading young midfield prodigies, the Frenchman’s career has lost momentum in recent seasons.

For a newly promoted club to take a chance on him is the ultimate pull from the ‘Chance’ deck.

If Gourna-Douath rediscovers his potential at the MKM Stadium, Hull may have landed on Mayfair at a bargain price. But if those glowing early scouting reports were exaggerated and he is simply not suited to the Premier League, it turns into a costly failure that leaves their midfield badly exposed.

What cannot be questioned is the spirit inside the camp. Fighting through adversity to secure promotion showed that the squad has exceptional togetherness and total commitment to their manager.

But in the unforgiving world of the top flight, determination and dressing-room unity are only a temporary ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card. In the end, quality, tactics and squad depth determine where you finish.

For Hull City, the definition of success this season is simple: survival. If they manage that, it would amount to an outstanding achievement given the scale of the squad’s transformation.

On the other hand, the worst-case scenario is grim. If these gambles all fail at once, Hull could even come close to Derby County’s notorious 11-point record as the worst team in Premier League history. Mauled by the Tigers? More likely mauled by the rest of the league.

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