Hibs feel they have plenty up their sleeve when trying to persuade players to move to their club.
The Hibees are part of the Black Knight group after Bill Foley bought a minority stake in the club and that puts them in his stable along with Premier League Bournemouth and French side Lorient.
They benefited from that when loaning Emilio Marcondes from the Cherries last season, also signing Nathan Moriah-Welsh from them on a permanent basis, helped by the relationship between the clubs.
Garvan Stewart became the Hibees’ head of recruitment after moving from the south-coast side and it was hoped he could use his expertise to improve player trading at Easter Road.
Manager David Gray explained how the process works between him, Stewart, sporting director Malky Mackay and the rest of the recruitment team.
Hibs have often been criticised for their scattergun approach to recruitment but deserved praise for going the opposite way and only bringing in Alasana Manneh in January.
Photo by Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Photo by Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
How Hibs approach player recruitment
Hibs director and Black Knight president Tim Bezbatchenko, who also came from Bournemouth, has now been talking about how they will approach recruitment.
With the relationship with Bournemouth players can be loaned but the Hibees might also be able to sign players that are seen of Premier League stars of the future to develop them first.
You obviously still need to persuade the player, their family and agents that its’ the right move for them but the capital club feel they have enough pulling power.
Bezbatchenko told the Edinburgh Evening News: “You have to have a player trading strategy. And the question is from there is, okay, there’s a system of trading players at the back end, but how are you supplying them at a lower cost, maybe earlier in their development? And can you control that supply?
“And I think that’s fundamentally what this is about is how can we use the network together to identify players earlier, maybe in a different way, so that you can beat other clubs to the punch, that you can get the player in your pipeline earlier.
“And then you can move them along, along with the player and his agent and his parents who are always along the decision.
“They have to decide too. They have to believe that it’s in their best interest to come into a group that understands what they’re trying to achieve.
“And so when we approach a player together with Ian Gordon, myself, Malky Mackay, whomever, are talking to a target, they can say: ‘Hey, not only can you come to Hibs and win trophies and hopefully get into Europe, but you can use that experience of winning trophies, of getting into Europe to develop.’
“And that’s what we want. We want players to reach their potential because it benefits the club, benefits the fans, benefits the players.”
How Hibs relationship with Bournemouth works
Expanding on how trading players with the Cherries can work, he added: “Yeah, it could be a different – a lot of different ways. It could be loan deals. It could be from one of the other clubs that you’re loaning to Hibs.
“It could be discussing a player at the ownership level that we’re acquiring and then there’s a developmental pathway that you discuss with the player saying this: ‘The idea will be for you to be here for a year or two years or three years.’
“I think it’s going to be different per player. But I don’t think it’s – it’s no secret how transactions are done.
“There’s not only loans. There’s outright purchases. There’s free players that you’re going to get on a free. That’s fundamentally the three ways that you’re going to acquire a player – or through your academy, which I guess is technically free.”