Football League World
·8 October 2024
Football League World
·8 October 2024
Keane Lewis-Potter left Hull City to join Premier League side Brentford in 2022.
Hull City will be hoping they can produce another player like Keane Lewis-Potter as they look to make a return to the Premier League, with the winger currently playing in the top flight for Brentford following his move away from the Tigers in 2022.
The Tigers currently have a number of young players in their first team squad, including Charlie Hughes, Oscar Zambrano, Xavier Simons, and Mason Burstow.
However, despite there being more than ten players who are aged 21 or under in and around the squad, only a couple of them have come through the club's academy.
Academy graduate Will Jarvis came off the bench in each of Tim Walter's first four Championship games in charge, while the likes of Harvey Cartwright, Andy Smith, and Matty Jacob are on the fringes of the squad, but the Tigers will surely want to see more homegrown talent impress at the MKM Stadium in the next couple of years.
Defender Jacob Greaves was the most established academy graduate in Hull's squad prior to his £15 million move to Ipswich Town during the summer transfer window, following in the footsteps of Lewis-Potter, who left the Tigers for the Premier League two years earlier.
Lewis-Potter made his senior debut for Hull in an FA Cup tie against Millwall in January 2019, before spending time on loan at Bradford Park Avenue in the National League North at the end of that season.
He broke into the Tigers' first team the following campaign, and scored his first goal for the club in the Championship against Barnsley at Oakwell, having come off the bench.
The winger had a couple of other memorable moments during the 2019/20 season, despite Hull's relegation to League One, such as forcing a late own goal to earn a point against Charlton Athletic at The Valley and netting his first goal at home in the 3-0 win over Birmingham City.
The youngster starred as the Tigers won the title in League One the following season, making 19 goal contributions in the third tier and making a name for himself as one of the most exciting talents in the EFL.
His willingness to take on defenders and create goalscoring opportunities endeared him to the Hull supporters, as he was a player who had the ability to make things happen by himself.
He continued his good form in the Championship during the 2021/22 season, scoring 12 league goals as Hull comfortably avoided relegation, with important braces in the victories against Peterborough United and Reading standing out as highlights.
His performances earned him a move to Brentford for a reported fee of £16 million in the summer of 2022, ranking him third behind Greaves and Jarrod Bowen when it comes to Hull's most expensive departures of all time.
While Hull have a few exciting young attackers, such as Burstow, Jarvis, and Abu Kamara, they would certainly welcome another player like Lewis-Potter coming through the youth set-up and having an impact at the MKM Stadium.
Having watched players like Lewis-Potter, Bowen, and Jaden Philogene in the last few years, Hull supporters must have become accustomed to seeing talented young wingers representing their club.
Not only would a talented academy graduate help the club with their short-term aspirations of competing for a place in the Premier League, but it could also turn out to be financially beneficial in a few years time if they attracted the interest of a bigger club.
Lewis-Potter has made more than 50 Premier League appearances for Brentford, showing that the Tigers can produce players who are capable of performing at the highest level.
Despite the fact that Hull have not relied on their academy in the last couple of years, another player like Lewis-Potter emerging would be a welcome bonus for Tim Walter and the club.