Hull City confirm departure of manager Marco Silva

Marco Silva has officially stepped down from his position as manager of Hull City after failing to to keep the club in the Premier League.

The 39-year-old revived the Tigers' faltering hopes when taking over in January, picking up 21 points from the 51 on offer and earning many plaudits for his efforts.

Silva was ultimately unable to keep City in the top flight, however, meaning that they missed out on the chance to invoke an automatic one-year renewal inserted into the short-term contract signed at the turn of the year.

Despite Hull's best efforts to keep the Portuguese on board, Silva turned down the chance to remain at the KCOM Stadium and is now expected to take up a role with Porto in his homeland.

Former Sporting Lisbon and Olympiacos boss Silva has also been linked with Premier League sides Watford and Southampton, however, and has yet to make an official announcement over his future.

A club statement read: "Marco was offered the opportunity to continue the work he has done in the four-and-a-half months he has been at the KCOM Stadium. Unfortunately, after considering his future, he has chosen to leave in order to further his career and departs along with assistant head coach Joao Pedro Sousa, first-team Coach Goncalo Pedro and goalkeeping coach Hugo Oliveira.

"Although disappointed by Marco's departure, we would once again like to place on record our appreciation of his efforts and those of his support staff.

"Despite only being in charge for a short period of time, the 39-year-old became a firm fans' favourite and will be forever remembered for his efforts to maintain our Premier League status. The club will now undertake a thorough and considered recruitment process to appoint a replacement."

Former Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka and sacked Norwich City boss Alex Neil are the early frontrunners to replace Silva on Humberside.