The Cherries sit at the top of the multi-club pyramid, which includes Hibs, Lorient and Auckland, and while the group president admits that there is an aim for players to move upwards, the strategy isn't so black and white.
Injury-scuppered moves for Owen Bevan aside, there hasn't been a direct transfer of players between Hibs and Bournemouth, with Easter Road bosses maintaining that anyone who makes an intra-group move to Leith must be ready to impact the first-team.
Bezbatchenko says it's also Black Knight's view that these moves must be aimed at helping the likes of Hibs achieve their own objectives.
“We don't look at the clubs as feeder clubs," he told [The Athletic podcast](https://open.spotify.com/episode/5YhiO8QIeh5W9BqBn0Z0EG?si=47c5bbce0d6d40a7&nd=1&dlsi=822a34754ee6453d). "I think within the multi-club ownership groups, there are different groups that do consider their clubs feeder clubs.
“It doesn't mean that we're not looking for the players to move up the pyramid, and I think Bill Foley has been clear about that. But we have to respect their own identity and what they're trying to achieve, and that's really important, especially right now at a club like Lorient, where they're trying to get promoted.
“But we've done good transactions that we feel like the clubs have benefited from the moves, like Dango Ouattara, and then we've recently done Junior Kroupi, but we've also allowed Junior Kroupi to remain at Lorient so that they can achieve their goals.
“If he were to have gone to another club outside of our network, I don't know if he stays at Lorient. So I think that the same goes for the transactions we plan to do at Hibs. What's good and suitable for both clubs? What helps achieve their objectives?
“But ultimately, players want to realise their potential. They want to move up the ladder. So whether or not that's within Black Knight or not, we're never going to stand in a player's way as long as we can find a mutually beneficial situation.
“We just feel like through the club network, we're achieving two things. You're controlling your supply, and there's cost and risk mitigation. That's the hardest thing about acquiring players - you don't really truly know them. You can do as much scouting, as much recruiting, you can have as many interviews as you want, but until that player is in the locker room and out on the training pitch with the other players, you don't know how he's going to fit in with the group.
“But when you have your own network, I can go to the training, I can go to the matches, I can sit in the locker room at one of the clubs and see how he interacts after a loss, and that really is what brings people together. It's not the wins and the championships. It's actually when you lose and who's there and who's around you.
“That's what I think is the fabric that can bring a multi-club together beyond the single crest of one club.”
Bezbatchenko says the Black Knight group are currently in 'phase one' of mapping out what they want the next five years to look like. Key aims include potentially adding another club to the stable, increasing the number of players who move across the group, and securing European football. The latter, of course, is a realistic aim this season as Hibs seek to finish third in the Scottish Premiership.
“I think right now we're in phase one," said Bezbatchenko. "We're assessing and we're in creation mode, where we're coming up with a three to five-year strategy. So we're in growth mode. So I think we're still looking at potentially acquiring another club.
“We did a strategic partnership with Kyoto Sanga in the J-League in Japan. We're talking with MLS teams about a potential strategic partnership there, so in five years, I think we will have grown in size. I think we've made the ties between the clubs stronger, we’ve increased the number of transactions between the clubs.
“I think especially on the recruitment side, when you look at the youth players across the world, they want to play in Europe. When you're looking at my experience down in South America, they maybe would come to the US, but ultimately they want to be in the Premier League.
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“So you want to see the ties within the pathway from our club to Hibs, to Lorient, to Bournemouth to those clubs all the way down and around the world to be stronger. So I think in five years, I would like to see the number of players who have moved increase.
“And then, we'd love to play in Europe, and certainly a couple of our clubs are in positions now where they're in the mix, but we're in sport for a reason. We want trophies. Who doesn't? Some of the best experiences I've had in my career are lifting trophies with people that you work with and that you care about. And I don't think it should be any different for our clubs.”