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Hull City are back in the picture for Gustavo Puerta say latest reports. However, convincing Racing Santander to sell the Colombia international looks far from straightforward. The Premier League club already know the 23-year-old well after his loan spell from Bayer Leverkusen during the 2024/25 season. Since then, though, Puerta’s stock has risen sharply. After leaving Leverkusen permanently, the midfielder established himself at Racing Santander. He also enjoyed an excellent World Cup with Colombia, where he emerged as one of the country’s standout performers. That has naturally attracted much stronger interest across Europe. According to Colombian journalist Pipe Sierra, Puerta’s future should be decided in the coming days. Hull are also among several clubs trying to secure his signature. The Tigers are joined by Bologna, Porto and Valencia in the race, but none of those clubs have yet matched Racing Santander’s valuation. The Spanish side are demanding €20m (£17.3m), a figure which has so far proved too high for the interested teams. Hull face growing competition Hull’s previous relationship with Puerta could help them, given the midfielder is already familiar with the club and English football. However, the newly promoted side now find themselves competing with clubs offering football in major European leagues, making the financial side of any deal even more important. Pipe Sierra adds that Puerta’s representatives are already in Europe as talks continue over his next move. Zenit are also pushing hard to sign the Colombian, although that option is not currently being prioritised because of the sporting project on offer. Instead, Puerta and his camp are continuing to assess opportunities in Germany. They are also looking at Italy and Spain. For Hull, that leaves two significant hurdles. The first is Racing Santander’s €20m (£17.3m) asking price, while the second is convincing a player whose reputation has grown considerably since his previous spell at the MKM Stadium that a return to the Championship is the right next step.