Hibs Sporting Director Malky Mackay has overseen a summer transfer window that has seen over a dozen players exit the Club, while bringing in six fresh faces on permanent deals that have already made a solid impact in the First Team.
The window came to a close on Monday 1 September, with Hibs bringing in two more recruits following the completion of loan transfers for midfielder Dan Barlaser and defender Zach Mitchell, respectively.
While the eight new additions all excite Mackay, keeping the core of last season’s squad that earned Hibs a third-place finish in the William Hill Premiership was as great an achievement.
He told Hibs TV: “I’m reasonably happy with the business we’ve done. The fact that we managed to get Rocky (Bushiri) and Junior (Hoilett) signed on again and keep that core of the squad together. We’ve got most of them on longer contracts now. It was important.
“Going into the new season, with that group that finished third, mostly still here, is terrific for the Club. We wanted to add to that then. Over the summer, we’ve managed to just add our players as the summer went rather than be part of a last-minute rush.
“I think it’s very important for the manager, for the Club, for the continuity. The fact that that group then went into pre-season and they all came back in here on day one, and they’ve had really good shared experiences together, successes together and they understand how to win.
“Any manager will tell you if you can manage to keep a good group together for a period of time, that’s when really good things can happen and I was delighted to get the core of that group back in here on day one of pre-season.”
Austrian goalkeeper Raphael Sallinger has brought “a really high level of goalkeeping in training” alongside Jordan Smith; Republic of Ireland international Jamie McGrath is a “Rolls-Royce of a professional”; while young midfielder Josh Mulligan has “really, really impressed” Mackay since arriving.
These three early window additions were followed up by the introduction of Thibault Klidjé and Miguel Chaiwa from the Swiss Super League – with both “settling really well and understanding the group” – as well as veteran Scotland international, and “real leader”, Grant Hanley.
These six permanent transfers allowed Hibs to come into transfer deadline day with only a few targets on the shortlist.
“Everyone was here from eight or nine o’clock in the morning until we left at 1:45am the next day. It’s a long time for people to be here, to be concentrating, making phone calls and finding information but it’s something that’s part of your job. It’s part of what you do to try and make our squad the best it can be.
“David Gray was there right to the death as well, and it was great because he’s in amongst it, he’s part of everything and he’s seen what’s going on as well and he’s given his opinion. It’s his squad at the end of the day, so we’re looking to see all day as to where, if anywhere, we can fine-tune it.
“I’m delighted with the squad that we have got here for the first half of the season. We have a leaner squad but a much stronger squad than when I walked in here a year ago. We didn’t have to do the amount of transactions that we did last summer because we were gradually filtering down to a squad that the manager wants.
“We have got to have youngsters and potential but we need that steely determination through every player that’s here. We need a character and a determination that is worthy of our badge, and that’s what I feel as if we are going in that direction right now.”
With the dust settling from transfer deadline day, Mackay and the Club can look forward to an exciting 2025/26 season ahead after forming a First Team squad that contains the core of last season’s team with the addition of eight new players who will all seek to claim a space within David Gray’s starting XI.
There is a great mood around the whole Club at the moment, with three teams eager to compete across a variety of different competitions. The Men’s team have already competed in front of sell-out crowds and booming travelling supports in European competition, while the title-winning Women’s team anticipate a mouthwatering continental clash against Italian giants Inter Milan as the Under-19s prepare for their first UEFA Youth League tie against Kosovan youth champions FC 2 Korriku next month.
“For the Men to finish third, and for the Women and the Academy team to win the league, and for all going to Europe as well – I believe it is only Celtic and Rangers that have actually done that before. I’m delighted for everyone at the football club and especially the Gordon family.
“I want to thank them for the backing that they have given this Club. I see the finances that are attached to everything that has to happen, and for just running the football club from day to day. I think that the Club is in a good place right now.
“The league season is the bread and butter, and it is what you want to actually get your sleeves rolled up to get into. I believe we have got a good Men’s squad here that we can really go and attack in the first half of the season.
“We will be making sure that between now and Christmas, we plan for the next window, to refine the squad, keep driving and push forward for the standards to make sure that we get the best players to play for the badge.
“We have got people that are working hard behind the scenes to do that and as I say, I want to thank all the different departments at our football club that make that happen because without them all interacting, none of this happens or it certainly does not happen in an efficient way, in a way that has got a strategy and a plan behind it.
“I’m really looking forward to it and for everyone at Hibs to just kick on for this first half of the season.”
