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David Gray responds to Black Knight chief linking Alex Paulsen with Hibs

Black Knight president Tim Bezbatchenko namechecked the goalkeeper, during an interview with The Athletic, as a player who could potentially head to Easter Road next season. Paulsen is under contract at Bournemouth until 2028 but is currently spending time Auckland, who are also in the multi-club stable.

Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraoli has said the 22-year-old can be part of his first-team plans in the future, but that regular minutes should be his priority for now. Bezbatchenko then opened the door for that to be at Hibs next term.

And although Gray wouldn't address Paulsen directly, he believes such possibilities are good examples of the relationship between Hibs and Black Knight strenghtening.

"Yeah, I think that's what Tim was demonstrating really, which is with a multi-club sort of group, how can everybody sort of benefit from it? And when you look within, can you recruit from within as well? 

"Anything that can strengthen each of the teams can only be a good thing for everybody involved.  And that's what I took from that sort of interview, was how you could demonstrate how players can move around and the jump from some places to get straight to Bournemouth, for example, into the Premier League - does a loan to a team like Hibs at a slightly lower level suit some players? Of course it would.

"And I think it's definitely an added bonus to be able to have that network and that infrastructure that you can look at players that can maybe come and do that.  We've obviously tied up Jordan quickly again, which was great, because he's done fantastically well in his new contract. And obviously Josef Bursik’s on loan, so it is a position we're going to have to bring someone in, which is why he probably just demonstrated that position as always we look within the network as well, which is great."

Gray says he and his coaching staff are, when the time is right, planning to visit Bournemouth for a glimpse into how one of the Premier League's biggest recent success story operates.

Iraola has turned the Cherries, whose Vitality Stadium holds just 11,000 spectators, into a side challenging for Europe and winning plaudits for their style of play. They've beaten the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal already this season, with the Spaniard regarded as one of the game's best up and coming coaches.

Gray believes it could be a 'fantastic' learning opportunity.

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"Especially myself as a coach, and the rest of the coaches, you're always trying to learn." he said. "You can always learn from other people, whether you go down and enjoy it or whatever is different story. Everyone's got different ways of doing it. There's no right or wrong way to do it.

"So for myself to go down there and get the opportunity to see how a Premier League team works and how a Premier League manager who's doing incredibly well with what they've got, they're flying in the league, they're doing really well. 

"Just to see how that operates is something that, again, strengthens the relationship. The benefits of having the multi-club and the Black-Knight investment within the football club is I can go down there, which is great, and I'm really looking forward to doing that in a time that suits our sort of schedule up here, because you can always learn.

"You can always look to try and take little bits from here and maybe ask questions that maybe we're doing up here as well.  So you're always learning, always looking to evolve and I think that's a fantastic relationship to have."

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