Hull City want to sign up to 10 new players before the summer transfer window closes, with head coach Sergej Jakirovic confirming the Premier League newcomers are still chasing a goalkeeper and centre-back with top-flight experience.

Jakirovic told The i Paper he expects five new arrivals by the end of the week, confirming that Australia international Lucas Herrington and Senegal international Nobel Mendy are undergoing medicals in Manchester.

The pair will join their new teammates in training on Thursday morning, with Jakirovic confident both can make an immediate impact given they have trained and played recently.

He also revealed that the club will “100 per cent” sign a goalkeeper after Jack Butland was ruled out for three months following an arm injury that requires surgery.

Newcastle United’s Nick Pope, who has been told he can leave St James’ Park, is understood to be one of the names under consideration.

However, any deal could depend on wage demands, with Hull having to cut their cloth accordingly after a brush with financial fair play rules earlier in the summer.

The Tigers have endured a slightly chaotic few days and there is little sign of activity slowing down.

Hull ended their interest in Nice forward Mohamed-Ali Cho earlier this week, but Jakirovic admitted they could revive that move before the start of September.

The club also remain interested in Leeds United forward Joe Gelhardt, who played a key role in their promotion campaign last season.

Intriguingly, Jakirovic revealed Hull are also waiting for Premier League clubs to decide the futures of some of their promising young players, who could be made available on loan in the final days of the window.

With so much going on, it is no surprise that the 49-year-old – who has a deliciously dry sense of humour – joked that he wanted to cut our interview slot down from 20 minutes to 15 so he could get back on the phone to Hull’s recruitment team.

“I’m expecting at least five [new] players this week,” he said.

“And we need more than seven new players because we have seven players from the under-21 squad training with us, helping us in our sessions because of our [injury] problems.

“We are working a lot on recruitment [but] it’s very slow. Sometimes I’m very annoyed about that but overall I’m positive, I’m optimistic.

“The new arrivals we have signed are good players but I’m aware they will need time to get the new chemistry of the team. They have quality.”

Hull begin their Premier League campaign against Manchester United in less than a fortnight, but Jakirovic insists the disruption is nothing new for the club.

The Tigers faced a similarly difficult situation 12 months ago while operating under a transfer embargo, yet went on to assemble a team that secured promotion at Wembley after a marathon Championship season.

“I knew it would be like this. We lost a lot of players. Because of our embargo we had a lot of loan players, they went back to their clubs and we had to sell players for financial reasons,” he said.

“It’ll be challenging, [a] difficult season, we all know that. I hope we will be good but it’s a lot of work ahead of us, especially in recruitment because we need players. In some positions we are very short.

“We are working on things but it’s not easy. Everyone thinks we have a lot of money but we have a responsibility because it’s not just about this season. We have to plan for other seasons. We have to spend our money wisely.”

Butland had been viewed as the answer to their goalkeeping issues, only for his injury to leave them needing another addition.

“Goalkeeper is a very big problem for us,” Jakirovic said.

“Jack found himself here and was very good, I was happy with him.”

“Right now we have three very good goalkeepers, but now after a medical check Jack needs surgery and the prediction is around 10-12 weeks so 100 per cent we need to take one more goalkeeper.”

Is Pope – who has been made available by Newcastle – an option?

“There are a few names,” he added.

“We need to decide who we will take. We will try to take a goalkeeper who has experience of the Premier League.

“We are discussing with the goalkeeper coach and will see what our decision is. It depends on money as well. It is always a problem.”

The prospect of re-signing Gelhardt is particularly appealing to Jakirovic, given the former’s familiarity with the club.

“He’s in the last year of his contract so maybe we should use this to buy him because ‘Joffy’ knows everything here,” he said.

“He knows us, we know him. He helped us a lot last season and was crucial in our season and was happy to be here. Maybe we will use this option.

“Others? We will see. All the big teams when they think about loaning out players they wait until the last week of the transfer window.”

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Further defensive reinforcements are also deemed essential.

“We are chasing one more centre-back who has Premier League experience,” Jakirovic said.

“We need that, it’s very, very important. I know how big the gap is between the Championship and the Premier League. There’s a lot of examples of teams who go up and immediately go down.

“It’s difficult, there’s no easy games in the Premier League. We will see. Right now I’m looking at my team, how we can improve things and how we can be competitive in this league.”