Laalaoui joins from Moroccan side Fath Union Sport in his first move outside of his home country.
African football journalist Mark Gleeson has been speaking to BBC Radio Humberside about how he believes Laalaoui is a "bright little prospect" but might take time to show his true ability as he eases into life in England.
"The Championship is physically such a big deal, it's a big man's world. I think it's going to be a slow process," Gleeson said.
"I'm not sure he's going to make an impact initially, it might be a bit of a punt on a long-term talent rather than someone who is going to make immediate waves.
"I think the Championship is not the forum for silky African skills, I think it takes a while. My gut feeling is don't expect immediate fireworks."
Rob: Yet another bizarre appointment by the chairman. No experience of English football and in particular the Championship, which is such a difficult league. I hope I'm wrong but this just smacks of the previous two appointments whereby the chairman had to sack them and bring someone else in. I'm not holding my breath though.
James: I don't get it! Firstly the decision to part with Rosenior after a seventh-placed finish, then to jettison Selles after keeping them up! What does the owner want? Why not go for someone with a proven track record in the Championship?
Joe: As Hull fan that's watched us every week, week in week out, we need to actually concentrate on the squad and the quality we bring in. We need players who want to play for the club and give it their all, and realise we are a Championship team and the style of football has to be to win as many games as possible and realise we aren't gonna hammer people 5-0 every week - we have to win the close games. Hopefully he will be given the tools he needs to build a strong squad.
John: I cannot believe we are doing this again. It's the exact same as last season. Sack a promising, well-respected coach with good results in the English game for a complete nobody with no experience in English football. We were lucky to attract Selles last season and just about stay up. Who are we going to find at Christmas after this new guy is gone and we're bottom of the table again?
Mark: He is on his eighth managerial job in eight years, and out of the previous seven only two lasted more than one season, not exactly a ringing endorsement.
Nick: We should have got a reliable manager who knows the league. The owner has unrealistic expectations as has proven over and again. Good luck to the new manager, he will need it.
Jonathan: He doesn't know the league and he has a poor team to manage. Unless he can make lots of changes it will be a difficult season. And we don't know him at all so he won't be given long before we get frustrated.
Sam: At the moment, most City fans see Ilicali as being foolish for two bad appointments (Arveladze and Walters) and two awful sacking decisions (Rosenior and Selles). But that can all still be forgotten about if this unknown guy is a success. I'm pretty dubious but will give him a chance.
Rob: Yet again, another manager without Championship experience. Now it's time for another episode of 'dart in a map' recruitment which tends to be the policy of choice for the owner. Get it wrong again and we will be in trouble in the league and financially.
Jakirovic in at Tigers - let us know your thoughtspublished at 10:58 11 June
10:58 11 June
Tigers fans, what do you make of the news that Sergej Jakirovic has been named the new head coach at the MKM Stadium?
The 48-year-old Bosnian joins the Tigers after a short spell in charge of Turkish Super Lig outfit Kayserispor.
The former Dinamo Zagreb coach is the third appointment since Liam Rosenior was sacked in May 2024 after guiding the East Yorkshire side to a seventh-placed finish in the Championship.
Do you think Jakirovic will last longer than Tim Walter or Ruben Selles? Can he haul the Tigers back into contention for promotion? What needs to be his first priority in his new role, in your opinion?
Lions up, Watford down? The 2025 Championship tablepublished at 12:37 10 June
12:37 10 June
Ben Ashton BBC Sport England
Image source, Getty Images
Watford are getting relegated, Plymouth are staying up, Millwall are in the play-offs and Portsmouth are also battling for a top-six spot.
Does something sound a bit off? Well, that's what would have happened if the Championship season started on 1 January.
Here's a look at the 2025 calendar year table, showing who the form sides were in the second half of the season and who went into freefall.
Perhaps the most notable difference between the actual final top six and the 2025 version is that Millwall would be in the play-offs and Premier League-bound Sunderland would not.
Burnley and Leeds still comfortably occupy the automatic promotion spots, albeit the Clarets would be unbeaten at the top of the pile with the Whites in second.
Coventry improved significantly after Frank Lampard replaced Mark Robins and are third over the course of the year.
The Sky Blues would instead be pitted against Bristol City in the play-off semi-final as opposed to Sunderland. Who knows what difference that would have made to their promotion bid...
Image source, Rex Features
Portsmouth - who spent much of the season battling relegation and only secured their Championship safety with two games to spare - are seventh and just one point outside a play-off spot.
Pompey sit above Sunderland, who lost their final five games of the season and are down in eighth.
The data perhaps shows just how long Regis Le Bris' side effectively had a play-off spot sewn up before their victory at Wembley against Sheffield United to claim promotion.
Relegation battlers Oxford find themselves seven places higher than where they actually finished in the 2024-25 campaign (17th), reflecting the good work done by Gary Rowett after he took over as boss from Des Buckingham.
Image source, Rex Features
Plymouth would have survived comfortably had the season begun in January 2025, showing a significant uptick after Miron Muslic replaced Wayne Rooney at the helm.
Middlesbrough tailed off significantly in the second half of the season, underpinning why they missed out on the play-offs. It was a drop off that ultimately cost Michael Carrick his job as head coach.
Norwich City conceded more goals (32) than any other side in 2025, which counteracted the hard work they'd done at the other end, having been the fourth top scorers (31) since the turn of the year.
Image source, Rex Features
Watford had a disappointing 2025, winning just five of their 23 games and losing 13 to finish bottom of the calendar year table.
The Hornets had the joint-worst goal difference along with Cardiff (-10) and head coach Tom Cleverley was sacked following the end of the season.
Preston and Cardiff won the fewest games of any side in 2025 (4), which cost the Bluebirds their Championship status and almost led to the Lilywhites dropping into League One as they avoided relegation by one point.
Paul Heckingbottom's side would be down if only games this year were counted.
Luton and Derby scored the fewest goals in 2025 (19) and attacking output was an issue that plagued both sides throughout the entire campaign.
It had major consequences for the Hatters with back-to-back relegations, while the Rams survived by a point - and only on goal difference in the yearly table.
Data collated from Transfermarkt
The Championship's improvement table for 2024-25published at 13:46 5 June
13:46 5 June
Ben Ashton BBC Sport England
Image source, Getty Images
The 2024-25 Championship season might be over but there are many ways to analyse and reflect on the campaign that has gone before us.
Not every club can go up but if there are signs a team is moving in the right direction, it can still be considered good progress - or quite the opposite if things are on the slide.
Here is a look at how each of the 18 sides who were in the Championship for the past two seasons got on points wise compared to the 2023-24 campaign.
It perhaps comes as no surprise that Sunderland, who won promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs, recorded the most significant improvement after finishing 16th in 2023-24 and picked up 20 more points.
Despite a tumultuous season off the field, Blackburn were the second most improved side in the division, gaining 13 points on the previous campaign as they missed out on the play-offs by just two points.
Leeds racked up 90 points in 2023-24 but somehow still managed a 10-point improvement as they hit the 100 mark on their way to winning the title in their best-ever season in the second tier.
Millwall's seven-point improvement was enough to help them finish five places higher in eighth, but they fell short of the top six by two points.
Meanwhile, Bristol City were only six points better off but managed to climb five places and claim a play-off spot, recording their best Championship finishing position since 2007-08.
Coventry also only improved by five points but were able to jump from ninth to fifth, perhaps showing just how fine the margins can be in the Championship when it comes to securing a play-off berth.
At the bottom...
Image source, Getty Images
You might want to look away now, Hull City fans.
The Tigers went backwards more than any other side compared to the previous season under Liam Rosenior, dropping from seventh place and three points outside the play-offs to only escaping relegation on goal difference on the final day.
Cardiff went from mid-table in 2023-24 to rock bottom and will drop down to League One for the first time in 22 years. It is pretty clear to see why as the Bluebirds picked up 18 fewer points compared to the previous season.
Norwich tumbled to 13th place after finishing in the play-offs a year before - an underperformance which ultimately cost Johannes Hoff Thorup his job as head coach.
Preston were 10 points off the play-off places in 2023-24 but picked up 13 fewer points under Paul Heckingbottom in what was their worst season since they were relegated from the Championship in 2010-11.
The Lilywhites' downturn was largely due to a major dip in form in the latter stages of the campaign, picking up only one win from their final 15 games (D7 L7) to avoid the drop by just one point.
West Bromwich Albion endured a disappointing season - for a club which always harbours ambitions of plying its trade in the top flight - with an 11-point drop off.
Albion's final points tally of 64 was their worst in the Championship since 1999-2000.
Plymouth may have only been five points worse off than they were in 2023-24 but having survived on the final day that season, there were to be no such heroics this time around and their two-year stint in the second tier is over.
And the rest...
Image source, Getty Images
*All data based only on teams who were in the Championship in 2023-24 and 2024-25
What can Jakirovic bring to the Tigers?published at 12:27 4 June
The 48-year-old has managed in Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and most recently, Turkey, but if he does join the Tigers, it will be his first managerial experience of English football.
Croatian journalist Ivan Renic has been speaking to BBC Radio Humberside about what Jakirovic might be able to bring to the team.
"You can expect attacking football," Renic said.
"He's not used to defending. Everywhere except the last Turkey job, he was attacking the title, fighting for the title, for the cups, for everything.
"He usually plays a 4-2-3-1 attacking formation with one central striker, which he's going to find probably in the transfer window."
As for what his best attribute is, Renic believes it's the connection between the boss and his squad.
"He has a good relationship with players, that's what is special about him," he said.
"He really connects with the players on a special level and that's what his biggest talent is. He can lift the player up, especially the striker who needs the confidence to score goals."
Palmer scores first international goal for Jamaicapublished at 09:58 28 May
09:58 28 May
Image source, Getty Images
Hull City midfielder Kasey Palmer has scored his first international goal for Jamaica during their 3-2 win over Trinidad and Tobago.
London-born Palmer slotted home a penalty in the 25th minute to earn his maiden goal and open the scoring during the international friendly.
It marks his first time on the scoresheet since September, when he netted his second Championship goal for the Tigers during a 3-1 victory against Stoke City.
Palmer, who has scored two international goals at youth level with England, has made 14 appearances for the Reggae Boyz since his first call-up in March 2021.
Gossip: Another Spaniard set to take helm of Hull?published at 09:24 23 May
09:24 23 May
Spanish former Liverpool winger Albert Riera, 43, is a leading contender to become the next Hull City manager. (Talksport, external)
Hull appoint Hodge as head of recruitmentpublished at 15:39 21 May
15:39 21 May
Image source, Rex Features
Hull City have recruited former Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Martin Hodge as their new head of recruitment.
The 66-year-old was previously involved in recruitment at Swansea City and Burnley, scouting for the latter as well as at Cardiff City and Watford.
Hodge joins after the departure of head coach Ruben Selles following the conclusion of the season, where the Tigers narrowly avoided relegation on the final day.
"Seeing the infrastructure that is in place and the number of people that work here, this is a big club and a project I'm excited to get my teeth into."
Hodge enjoyed a 19-year playing career, setting a club record for the Owls with 214 consecutive appearances.
'Even Watford are laughing at us' - Hull fans have their say on Selles departurepublished at 09:32 19 May
09:32 19 May
We asked you what you made of the decision to relieve Ruben Selles of his duties, despite guiding Hull City to Championship safety on the final day of the season.
Here's a selection of responses from Tigers fans.
Chris: City, and Ilicali, need to get things right for next season: recruit a manager with experience of the Championship, recruit the right players - quality over quantity, release/sell the expensive underperforming players and then allow for a sustained period of stability. Success takes (a long) time in football.
Den: I would have given him 10 games to see how it panned out with signings in this transfer window. The owner needs to stop the merry-go-round with managers and let a team gel and get used to his style of playing.
Scott: Tells you something when the Watford fans are laughing at you. Another promising young manager sacked by Acun. He needs to be careful, he can soon go from "hero to villain" and is already losing fans.
John W: Teams today want instant success. I think Ruben was doing ok, he achieved Championship survival which was clearly the aim and I believe with a bit of backing (money wise) he could transform Hull's fortunes. He did superbly at Reading and I believe given more time would have done alright at Hull. It's a very tough and demanding league. Whoever gets the job next will need financial backing. Good luck in your next position Ruben.
Stephen C: Should have given Selles more time. To enable him to produce his own squad. They need to appoint a manager with EFL experience and not some inept foreigner.
Stephen: It was on the cards - after last season coming seventh the owner made his views clear that he was aiming to be in the Premier League. Regardless of the problems that the team had this season they should have finished in a better position.
Greg: Terrible, terrible decision. The best way to ruin a club is uncertainty and for the second year running we will be going into the summer with no identity and nothing to build on. Players can't look at a growing project (eg Selles') and buy into it but instead have to take a punt and that will hurt us in the window. It's a bad blunder and will send us to League One at this rate.
Taylor: Three managers in 12 months is shocking for us. Acun needs to have a look at himself and realise that what he's doing isn't benefiting the club. In my opinion, Acun out.
David: They should never have sacked Rosenior. Hull City's owners make the same mistakes over and over again, and I don't see that changing.
Paul: We needed a change, he kept playing the wrong formation of 4-3-2-1. When he played 4-3-3 we played better and even won.
Jon: There was little evidence to suggest improvement was on the way. More of the same was an uninspiring prospect. Change was needed.
Ben: He joined in December, and we were bottom three. Was he pretty? No. But at the end of the day we're playing Championship football next season and for that I think Selles deserved the summer and start of next season. I don't know what Acun wants. First Rosenior for "football philosophy" and now this. It's unrealistic, he wants a promotion fast, like the rest of us. But does he think the way to get it is by trying manager after manager until we win the league? Instead of being realistic and building a brand with a young manager we already had in Selles or even Rosenior.
Rhys: We uproot the entire management team and playing squad year on year. It's insanity. There is zero stability at the club at the minute and as good as Acun has been for the club he is also everything wrong with it at the moment.
Daniel: Deserved a chance to build a team. Forced to make do, hence the style of football but did what he had to do without excelling.
John: Once again we are in no man's land. We need an experienced Championship manager and not a foreign import. We missed out not getting Mark Robins in. Watch Stoke city go next season. He knows what is needed. Selles will not be missed, very poor manager. Don't make the same mistake again.
Mike: I don't get it. Surely we don't start again with another manager. Who will want the job with the owner's track record? Lots of names out there but please don't give us another Tim Walter. A proven manager would be great but I don't want a dinosaur like Tony Mowbray. Dyche is ok, Potter is ok.... let's see.
Selles axed by Tigers - give us your thoughtspublished at 21:05 15 May
21:05 15 May
Tigers fans, what do you make of the news that Ruben Selles has left the MKM Stadium?
Another summer, another change in the dugout. Do you think Selles would have improved City's fortunes next season, or do you think this is the right move after a season of struggle? Who would you like to see replace him?
Check back later and we'll publish a selection of views right here.
'Another uncertain time to be a Hull City fan'published at 20:44 15 May
20:44 15 May
Mike White Sports editor, BBC Radio Humberside
Image source, PA Media
Here we go again! That's how most Hull City fans must be feeling just over five months on from Ruben Selles' appointment and 12 months, almost to the day, since Liam Rosenior's shock departure.
And it's why many supporters are starting to feel like they've become the 'new Watford' as the managerial merry-go-round sees another change and another summer of uncertainty for the Tigers.
Selles' remit was survival, which he achieved. In doing so, he ensured Hull weren't faced with a huge financial hit that would have had significant implications on a club who reported losses in excess of £60m in the last accounts - a number likely to keep growing.
Dealing with a number injuries to key players and possessing a toothless attack where the leading scorer (Pedro) only managed six goals, City survived on the final day on goal difference.
A net zero goal difference during his time in charge showed that the Spaniard had managed to shore up a defence that was far too leaky in the first half of the season under the failed experiment that was previous head coach Tim Walter.
Under Selles, the team were actually a top-half side in the Championship form table in the latter half of the campaign, managing nine wins - three times as many as they'd registered under Walter.
That said, the football at times felt too safe and laborious which could be put down to a lack of trust in their attacking players to be able to score enough if they went behind in games.
The final home game of the season against relegation rivals Derby was maybe the performance that signalled the beginning of the end for Selles in the mind of owner Acun Ilicali.
It was largely felt the team had been set up not to lose that game when a win would have secured Championship survival with a game to spare and avoided the nervous last-day drama that unfolded at Portsmouth.
Despite that, this decision still feels harsh and also appears to be the straw that broke the camel's back for many fans, if reaction on social media is to be used as any sort of credible measuring stick.
Ilicali originally won over City supporters by being the knight in shining armour, taking over in early 2022 from the previous regime that had alienated itself from a large section of the fanbase.
He's taken some fans on all-expenses paid holidays to his native Turkey, spoken repeatedly about his love for the city of Hull and promoted his 'One Family, One Dream' mantra that is visible around the club.
Sadly, his ownership now feels like it's slid into a dysfunctional nightmare and many fans are venting their frustration towards the Turkish businessman with both barrels.
Where Hull turn next is the big question. One thing is for sure - a new manager has to be appointed quickly to ensure another summer of uncertainty and poor recruitment doesn't rear its head again like last year.
Names such as Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl as well as Russell Martin and Steve Cooper (both without clubs) are being touted among fans.
It does feel like it needs an experienced manager with knowledge of the English leagues but it has been suggested to me that Ilicali could be looking internationally again despite previous failed experiments in Shota Arveladze and Walter.
One thing's for certain - it's another challenging and uncertain time to be a Hull City fan.
'We'll need to add to improve' - Crookspublished at 12:43 5 May
12:43 5 May
Media caption,
Goalscorer Crooks after City survive relegation
Hull City midfielder Matt Crooks says that despite having "so much quality in the squad", the side will need to bolster their numbers if they want to avoid another relegation battle next season.
The Tigers secured another year in the Championship after Crooks scored the opening goal, with Portsmouth not able to find more than an equaliser during their 1-1 draw.
It was a point that took them out of the bottom three on the final day, relegating Luton Town on goal difference instead.
"I think there's a comradery in the squad that can be built upon, but obviously, the Championship is a tough league," Crooks told BBC Radio Humberside.
"You need quality all over the pitch; I think we've got that, but we'll need to add to that if we want to improve our situation next year."
The season finale came as "a relief" to Crooks, who joined the club in January,, and is already looking forward to getting "a fresh start in the summer" with the club.
"Have a positive pre-season; that's what we've got to think about now," the 31-year-old added.
"The season is done. We can forget about it and focus on next season."
