Hull City are closing in on the signing of former Middlesbrough star Matt Crooks in what's expected to be the club's new recruit of the January window.

Crooks was a hugely popular figure at the Riverside Stadium in his three years on Teesside before he swapped the North East for Utah, joining Real Salt Lake in the MLS back in February last year.

The dynamic 30-year-old, who can play anywhere across the midfield or further forward, is expected to pen a two-and-a-half-year deal at the MKM Stadium and could play a part on Sunday as City entertain Doncaster Rovers in the third round of the FA Cup.

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Here, Hull Live spoke to Boro reporter at the Teesside Gazette, Craig Johns, to get the lowdown on what Tigers fans can expect from Crooks during his stay in East Yorkshire...

"The first and most important thing to know about Matt Crooks is his unbelievable character. Boro Community Champion in both of his full seasons at the club, he won a similar award in his first year in the USA too, typifying a player and man who will give his everything in representing Hull City on and off the field. Involved in many charity endeavours, ‘It’s nice to be nice’, is his simple explanation for why he goes above and beyond to connect with supporters wherever he is.

"On the pitch, which is of course where supporters will no doubt have most interest, Crooks proved an incredibly reliable and versatile player for Boro in his time at the Riverside. His best spell in the side came in Chris Wilder’s run from taking the club to the cusp of the play-offs with excellent league form as well as an FA Cup run which included wins over Manchester United and Tottenham, with Crooks scoring the goal at Old Trafford against his boyhood club.

"In that spell in the team, Crooks played as a central midfielder - an eight, to be precise - and used his engine and passing link play to make him a central figure of that Boro side. He’s not going to be pinging long-range, accurate passes, but he’s good at passing it around intricate areas and driving forward with the ball. One of the interesting things to note about Crooks is that it would be easy to be deceived by his height into thinking he was aerially dominant, but actually, he’s an athletic player with a huge engine who, for his size, isn’t, by his own admission, as good in the air as you might expect.

"On the energy and fitness he can bring to a side, there was a famous story from his time at Rotherham. Paul Warne used to do a mile-trail on the first day of pre-season every year there and it wasn’t a standard one-mile run - more a cross country-type course. Crooks became the first player ever to complete that in under five minutes.

"He’ll pop up with goals and assists too, particularly if played in a number ten role where he’ll use that link play to run off a centre-forward or get in good areas around him to offer support. That said, there was a reason that he didn’t play an awful lot under Michael Carrick, and that’s largely because he often appeared to struggle with the tempo that Boro wanted to play at under Carrick. It would often feel like it slowed down around him as he favoured a more patient style, whereas Carrick wanted and needed his side to have more zip.

"It’s for that reason that he actually played mostly as centre-forward under Carrick, despite admitting it wasn’t a comfortable position. His strengths in running, etc, meant that it wasn’t always natural for him, and he admitted playing with his back to goal was new and something he struggled to adapt to. But, what Carrick liked, was his knack of getting in the right place at the right time. On Boro’s run to the play-offs under Carrick, he scored some important goals for them at important times, even if he wasn’t a regular.

"At Hull City, expectations certainly this season will be very different to Boro’s in Crooks’ time at the Riverside and, as a player who will give his all and chip in with valuable contributions, it looks an excellent signing."

What do you think of City's imminent first arrival of the winter window? Have your say in the comments below...