Hull City’s playoff final win over Middlesbrough sealed its return to the English Premier League and one American player has remained linked with a potential move to the club. Rokas Pukstas is a player that Tigers manager Sergej Jakirović has been interested in for the past season, Jakirovic confirmed in an interview with Sportske. Pukstas was one of three players mentioned in the interview, along with Dinamo Zagreb’s Arbër Hoxha and Rijeka’s Toni Fruk as potential reinforcements for the club this summer. Jakirovic, who joined Hull City in June 2025, previously managed at Dinamo and Rijeka before making the move to England and leading the Tigers to promotion. The Bosnian manager confirmed that he wanted to sign all three players during the last campaign but missed out due to financials. “It’s true, Hoxha was our target, but due to the ban we couldn’t pay the compensation and Dinamo didn’t want to let him go,” Jakirovic said in the interview. “I also wanted to bring Pukštas from Hajduk and Fruk from Rijeka, but you can’t if you don’t pay the compensation. All of these are players who would be reinforcements for us in the Championship.”Pukstas, 21, recently concluded his fourth full season with Hajduk Split in the Croatian first division. The Oklahoma-born midfielder delivered his best haul yet by scoring 10 goals in 36 appearances across all competitions, helping Hajduk Split qualify for the UEFA Conference League playoff round. Despite being one of the younger players in the first team squad, Pukstas has been a consistent player for Hajduk, totaling 132 appearances in five years. The former U.S. youth national team midfielder has previously been on the radar of several European clubs and continues to have the support of Jakirovic, should a deal come to fruition. “I believe so, they are great players,” he said. “I know Hoxha well from Dinamo, Pukštas has fantastic predispositions, Fruk is brilliant in the final [third]. They will certainly all be part of our analyses and discussions, but it’s too early to draw any conclusions. We need to see how much money we will have available and who all we will be in a position to bring in.”Hull City will begin its Premier League schedule on the weekend of August 22, seeking to avoid an immediate drop back down to the EFL Championship.