Championship club Hull City are not in the running to sign Polish international defender Tymoteusz Puchacz, despite links emerging to the contrary.

City were reportedly keen on signing the 25-year-old left-back, who currently plies his trade in Germany with Bundesliga side Holsten Kiel, the former club of ex-Tigers boss Tim Walter.

Those reports, Hull Live understands, are wide of the mark, and there is no truth to suggestions the Tigers are battling with Plymouth Argyle and Derby County to bring him to England during the winter window.

READ MORE: Middlesbrough expert gives glowing transfer verdict on Hull City-bound Matt Crooks

READ MORE: Hull City lead transfer race to sign Leeds United striker to boost Championship survival hopes

The Tigers are eyeing up signing defensive cover this month with Nottingham Forest's Willy Boly and Watford's Ryan Porteous - a former target - both players under consideration, while other options are being explored across the defensive line. But players with experience of playing in the Championship is thought to be high on the agenda.

Puchacz is a player with experience playing in his native Poland with Lech Poznan and in Germany with Union Berlin and Kaiserslautern as well as in Greece with Panathinaikos, and though he may move to the Championship this month, it won't be to the MKM Stadium.

City's first signing of the window is expected to be Matt Crooks, the former Middlesbrough midfielder. Crooks underwent a medical on Monday and stayed in Hull on Monday night ahead of signing what it's understood will be a two-and-a-half-year deal at the MKM Stadium after the Tigers agreed a deal with MLS side Real Salt Lake.

The Tigers are also keen on signing Leeds United striker Joe Gelhardt but are understood, according to sources close to Elland Road, to be waiting on the green light from the Championship leaders, who have been hit by a setback to Patrick Bamford's availability, before clinching the deal.