Hull will spend fee for Long on new striker, Bruce pledges
(Reuters) - Hull City will spend the money received for Ireland striker Shane Long on a replacement and already have names in mind, manager Steve Bruce told reporters on Friday.
Long joined Southampton on Thursday for a fee reported to be in excess of 10 million pounds.
He had only moved to Hull in January, but Bruce said: "We got what, in our opinion, was a fabulous offer. It happened so quickly. This time last week I would never have envisaged us being without him."
Long played in both of Hull's Europa League qualifying matches this season and now the FA Cup finalists have promised to use the funds received from Southampton to strengthen their squad.
"We will invest that money into the squad to make it bigger and better, and we’ll be looking to find a replacement," Bruce added.
"We’ve got irons in the fire. I’d like at least another three players to come through the door. The money that we got for Shane will allow us to do that."
Hull begin their Premier League campaign away to newly promoted Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.
(Writing by Steve Tongue; editing by Justin Palmer)
