Hirakawa seeks second opinion as City 'crystal clear' on what's best for loanee

CommentsSportDaniel Carter15:30, 09 Mar 2026Yu Hirakawa wants to seek a second opinion over whether he should undergo surgery on his ankle injury, Gerhard Struber has confirmed, but the Bristol City boss says the Reds' stance is "crystal clear."

Having left Ashton Gate to join Hull City on loan during the January transfer window, Hirakawa sustained an ankle issue during the Tigers' defeat to QPR last month. The 25-year-old was withdrawn after 57 minutes, after sitting out the league game prior against his parent club.

Initially, the extent of the winger's injury was not clear, but reports emerged from Humberside to suggest surgery would be required to repair the damage, with any such operation likely ending the Robins loanee's season - and potential World Cup hopes - prematurely.

Hirakawa was due to return to south Bristol in late February, when Struber suggested it was "50-50" whether or not he would go under the knife. A week later, the Reds boss confirmed no final decision had been made, with the 25-year-old keen to take his time to come to the right call.

Speaking ahead of City's defeat to Coventry City last Friday, Struber told Bristol Live, "The decision is not ending in this way. He wants to have a second opinion.

"We are really crystal clear what is the best for him, but he wants to have also a second opinion in this way, and then we will look at how the process is going. But also for him, I think the season is over.

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"I think, of course, every single player has the bigger right to do everything with a second opinion or to have, in the end, a communication with more people [about] what is the best," the Robins head coach added. "I have an understanding for that, and this is usually normal in our business that some players, with injuries, have - in the end - a second opinion about the surgery or no surgery.

"But we are clear [about] what is the best for him."

For City, the ramifications of Hirakawa's decision are likely to be limited, this season at least. While Struber's plan has always been for the Japanese international to return to BS3 at the end of his loan spell, he is a Hull player until the end of the campaign.

From the Tigers' perspective, however, whether or not the 25-year-old opts to go under the knife will impact Sergej Jakirovic's side's plans for the final months of the campaign, with Hull keen to add David Akintola to their registered squad list.

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According to the Hull boss, such a request to the EFL was denied, with documents needed to prove the extent of Hirakawa's issue for the Tigers to have any hope of him being re-registered.

"I asked Jared [Dublin] yesterday, and he said that we asked the EFL to solve this, but the EFL rejected it," Jakirovic told our sister publication, Hull Live, last week. "I think it's about whether he's more than eight weeks out, then we can do that. You must prove everything with medical documents, which is why they rejected it.

"I hope [discussions will continue], yes, because for Yu, I think it's over. He finished the season. This is my prediction because it's eight or nine weeks. I hope it is [realistic that he could come back], but I'm not optimistic about our injuries because it's always at least one week more than how it's predicted, and this is the problem."