Turner's former clubs Brentford and Charlton have both queried the amounts they are due to receive in sell-on payments for the defender, who is tipped for full England honours.

And that has brought the truth about the deal out in the open – that far from receiving £10-£12m for the centre-half, Hull settled for a fee of just £4m.

And with 33 per cent of that fee owed to Brentford and Charlton, that will leave the Tigers with just £2.8m for the footballer who was their Player of the Season two years in a row.

Despite claims in certain papers at the time that the fee paid was in double figures in terms of millions, the Gazette revealed that the fee was closer to £6m with Paul McShane, who moved in the opposite direction, valued in the £2m bracket in that figure.

But new Hull chairman Adam Pearson has lifted the lid on the real fee, which offers even bleaker news for the Tigers.

And Pearson insists financial pressures were not behind the cut-price sale.

The stark reality of Turner's sale will invite further doubt upon the club's financial well-being.

But, after beginning his second stint as chairman yesterday, Pearson says City were never in a position for a forced sale, and there will be no pressure to offload more star players in the January transfer window.

"Under no circumstances was it a financial necessity to sell Michael Turner," he said.

"I can only second-guess what people were thinking, but there was probably a feeling that the player wanted to go, and that was the best possible deal available for him.

"All I can say is that there's no requirement to sell players we want to keep."

Turner's fee does not include any future payments based on the player's progression, and is not linked to the deal that took McShane to the KC Stadium.

Pearson confirmed: "It's not incremental, the total amount of cash we will receive for Michael Turner is £2.8m. Those are the facts.

"The cash generated from that deal after paying Brentford and Charlton is £2.8m, and in light of what we've been spending on players, I would tend to suggest that it's a disappointing return for the player.

"With hindsight, I'm not sure that August 31 was the best time to sell Michael Turner, and certainly not at that price.

"We've had to pay a transfer fee for Paul McShane of £500,000, but that's a separate deal."

With Charlton and Brentford raising concerns over the figures received – having expected much more – Turner's transfer has now become the subject of a Premier League investigation.

That will be heard in the week commencing November 30, but Pearson has reassured fans that the club has nothing to fear.

"From what I can see, an investigation is wholly unfounded," he added.

"We're entirely comfortable, there's nothing untoward as far as I can see.

"I think the two clubs have seen inflated figures in the Press, but the only thing we could be accused of is not maximising the fee at the best possible time."