Hull City Sign Ranocchia On Loan From Inter 1

Hull have confirmed the signing of defender Andrea Ranocchia on loan from Inter Milan until the end of the season.

The Italian, 28, could make his debut for the club at Manchester United on Wednesday evening, and represents their sixth signing of the transfer window.


Ranocchia joins fellow loan recruits Oumar NIasse, Evandro, Omar Elabdellaoui and Lazar Markovic. Markus Henriksen had also arrived for an undisclosed fee from AZ Alkmaar, while Jake Livermore and Robert Snodgrass have left to join West Brom and West Ham respectively.

At his prime at Inter, Ranocchia was a natural ball player, known for his pinpoint accurate passing, including long balls, and excellent reading of the game.

His pass completion rate was almost 90 per cent and his timing in the tackle was excellent. He had one of the lowest foul and yellow card rates. At 6ft 5in he is tall, strong and good in the air. Some of those skills appear to have deserted him during his troubled time at Inter but onlookers say he still has it in the locker.

This season he’s made just 5 starts in Inter’s 22 Serie A games and finds himself falling so far down the pecking order, a return looks impossible. Inter’s passionate fans also seem to have fallen out of love with him, reportedly booing him in his last regular season.

Seeking new challenges, and a clean slate perhaps, Ranocchia was soon being linked to English clubs. Suggestions of Liverpool and, more recently, Tottenham Hotspur fell by the wayside and then a host of other Premier clubs including West Ham, Watford and Southampton were linked. Swansea looked favourites to sign him until City stepped in.