Hull City manager Steve Bruce has confirmed his desire to sign Arsenal midfielder Isaac Hayden on a permanent deal.
The 20-year-old is currently on loan at the KC Stadium, and has proved to be an exciting addition to Bruce’s promotion-hunting Tigers.
Indeed, Hayden scored his first goal for the club—and the first senior goal of his career—this weekend when he struck for the East Yorkshire outfit in their 6-0 rout of Charlton Athletic in the Championship.
It was Hayden’s 11th outing for Hull—who were relegated from the Premier League last season—and was arguably his finest performance to date for the north-east outfit.
In light of the match, Bruce has outlined his intention to convince the player to extend his temporary spell at the KC Stadium and commit to Hull on a permanent basis.
“I’ve already been on to Arsenal because I’d love to make it permanent if I could,” former Birmingham City and Sunderland manager Bruce told the Hull Daily Mail.
“I’d make it permanent tomorrow if that was possible. I desperately want to hang on to him. In an ideal world he’d want to be playing every week but he’s started last weekend and again,” Bruce continued.
“He’s a very good young player, who’s progressing all the time,” he added.
“He’s got his goal and he did very well. He’s energetic and full of beans and he’ll remember his first goal today. I wanted to freshen us up in midfield and he was one who took his chance well. It was very good to see.”
This is the first time Chelmsford-born Hayden—who was previously at Southend United, before moving to the Emirates Stadium in 2008—has been out on loan, and it remains to be seen whether Arsene Wenger still hopes to integrate the defensive star into his first-team plans.
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Hayden can play as a centre-back, but has typically featured as a central midfielder for the Tigers this summer, and the Gunners’ decision to sign FC Basel Mohamed Elneny earlier this month [via the club’s official website] seemingly places another obstacle between Hayden and the starting XI at the Emirates Stadium.