‘Child of McBurnie’ – how Yu Hirakawa is already settled in at Hull City

The Japan international caught the eye after his arrival from Bristol City

Oli McBurnie has stressed the importance of helping new signings settle in, after boss Sergej Jakirovic joked that Yu Hirakawa was like the son of the Scotland international.

Hirakawa made his debut at Preston North End last Tuesday and made an immediate impact, crossing for McBurnie to score the third in a comprehensive victory. The new signing then caught the eye on his home debut in Saturday’s 2-1 success over Swansea City.

McBurnie celebrated his goal at Preston with the Japanese international, with Jakirovic then suggesting the post-match dressing room scenes were like a circus as City celebrated their impressive away day success in Lancashire.

“This is Yu’s quality; we know what he can do. He’s very good with both legs, technically with both, you don’t know which is better, his agility and quickness are there,” Jakirovic said.

“This group is really nice. You should see after the game he was in the dressing room like the child of McBurnie, he made a circus there, but this is Oli.”

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For McBurnie, integrating new players and especially those from abroad, is absolutely crucial and something he learned the importance of during his stay in Spain with Las Palmas, having arrived not speaking the language.

“I know what it’s like coming into a team. It’s not an easy thing and I know what it’s like coming into a team when you’re not from the place and maybe you don’t have a perfect grasp of the language,” he told Hull Live.

“I do now, but I didn’t originally; I didn’t speak a word of it,” he then joked about his fine grasp of Spanish. “Whatever I can do to make the boys that are coming in feel comfortable and feel like they’re part of the team, which is what the boys did to me when I first came as well, it’s a massive part.

“I always play best when I’m happy, and I’m comfortable in the place that I’m at, and I feel that’s the same with a lot of people. The sooner we can get them to feel like this is their home, the better performances we can see.

“You can see from Yu’s performance, it didn’t take him long to feel like he was part of the boys. The way he plays is, is kind of like that anyway. He’s got that infectious personality as well, you know, I think he just wants to come in and run around and cause problems and do the best he can, so.

“He looks like a great addition to the team, really excited that we’ve been able to get him, and obviously, for me, a winger that can beat a man and cross the ball is lovely for me to see sign as well.”

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