Ruben Selles believes the signing of Monaco midfielder Eliot Matazo is a real statement of intent from Hull City despite the Tigers being at the wrong end of the Championship table.

City snapped up the 22-year-old Belgian on a three-and-a-half-year contract on Friday after agreeing an eye-catching deal with the French Ligue 1 side. He was named on the bench at Sheffield United, coming on in the second half to help the Tigers to a sensational 3-0 victory in the Steel City.

The dynamic midfielder will add to Selles' midfield options which have been boosted by the recent form of Steven Alzate and Gustavo Puerta in the Tigers' engine room, though the Spaniard will hope he can add some goals to a squad badly lacking in that area.

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Though City may be struggling at the wrong end of the table and facing an almighty fight to remain in the Championship with just 17 games left, Selles believes the calibre of Matazo's arrival is a real statement of intent about what they want to do going forward, if they can build on Friday's result and move away from danger and start to plan for next term.

"It's a great signal from the club," Selles told Hull Live. "First of all, from the club to back up the idea of how I do things and the things that I want to do, the type of players that we like, and to send a signal also that we are powerful and able to bring players here that want play and want to be better and then want to move forward."

Selles says signing a player from Monaco means Matazo's transition into Hull City life will be smooth, given their style is very similar to what he's trying to implement in East Yorkshire.

"When you ask about the Monaco situations, the Monaco players, we have a good relationship there," Selles continued. "The players playing for that team and the style of play that they have are really powerful in terms of not only technical and tactical, also their physicality and their capacity to read the game in terms of how we want to read it.

"Adi (Hütter, head coach) plays a style that is similar to what we want to play, so everything that is identified with that kind of group, The Monaco Group or the Red Bull Group, is always an interesting player.

"Elliot plays in the double six or as a number eight, being very powerful from box to box, being very aggressive in the pressure, being able to arrive into the positions to score goals, but also to counter press really hard.

"In possession, he can play, and he can put the ball down, and Eliot can be a ball carrier. He has the full package that we demand for a Hull City player, but also for a Championship player. And the fact that he's young can add value to the club's investment. We see a lot of potential in him."

Naturally, some would question why a player who has appeared 84 times for Monaco, including three in the Champions League this season, would swap life in Monte Carlo for a second-division relegation battle on the banks of the River Humber, but Selles is adamant Matazo has the attitude.

"He's a good boy, he's a competitor, he's a winner, and I think he will be a great addition to the football club," he said. "I think that's the kind of player, the kind of decision that you just think is brave because that means that he's not going to be comfortable. He's going to come here and want to do things properly from the very first day."