The winger is set to miss the remainder of the campaign

Barry Cooper Hull City correspondent

09:00, 12 Mar 2026

Yu Hirakawa is seeking a second opinon on whether or not he will go under the knife in a bid to cure the ankle injury he picked up playing for Hull City last month.

The Japan international, who is on loan at the MKM Stadium from Bristol City and had started his Tigers career well, sustained a recurrence of an ankle problem he sustained at the Olympic Games in 2024 during the defeat to QPR last month.

Tigers boss Sergej Jakirovic had expected the flying winger to opt for surgery within days of the Rangers game, but the 25-year-old has since sought a second opinion about whether an operation is required or not and is now mulling over his options.

Hirakawa is mindful of this summer’s World Cup in North America, and having surgery could put his place in the Japan squad in serious jeopardy with recovery time to set to be around four months.

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If that were to be the case, Hirakawa would likely not return until later in the summer when pre-season begins, meaning he would miss out on the global tourament across the Atlantic.

Should he opt against going into hospital, then the recovery time naturallly drops signifciantly, but it’s still ikely that he would miss the remaining weeks of the season, and potentially still be impacted by the issue.

“The decision is not ending in this way. He wants to have a second opinion. We are really crystal clear what is the best for him, but he wants to have also a second opinion in this way, and then we will look at how the process is going. But also for him, I think the season is over,” Bristol City head coach Gerhard Struber told Bristol Live.

“I think, of course, every single player has the bigger right to do everything with a second opinion or to have, in the end, a communication with more people [about] what is the best,” the Robins head coach added. “I have an understanding for that, and this is usually normal in our business that some players, with injuries, have – in the end – a second opinion about the surgery or no surgery. But we are clear [about] what is the best for him.”

Until such time as Hirakawa is officially ruled out for the season by doctors, the EFL will not allow City to de-register their January loan signing and replace him with David Akintola, who continues to train with the first team despite being unable to play at the moment.

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