Jim Goodwin hopes the appointment of Michael Cairney as Tannadice head of recruitment can help Dundee United unearth the next Bojan Miovski.
United boss Goodwin racked up several notable successes in the transfer market with Aberdeen, working closely with their former scouting chief Darren Mowbray, who has since joined Southampton.
Miovski, who has notched 42 goals in the last two seasons, Ylber Ramadani and Duk were standout captures for the Dons under the Irishman.
However, Goodwin goes back as far as Ilkay Durmus’ impact with St Mirren – an unknown arrival from Wacker Innsbruck in 2019 – when outlining his willingness to look “outside the box” for Premiership quality.
And striking that balance with players who know the British game will be his aim as the Tangerines seek to build a squad ready for the top-flight over the coming months.
“We are open-minded, and I think you need to be,” said Goodwin. “I like to sign players who have knowledge of the Scottish game. You don’t want to be bringing in too many foreign players because it takes time to settle in.
“It’s a different culture, a new environment and a different style of play so you need to consider all those things.
“But we WILL have our eye on the foreign markets as well. I have had considerable success in the past at previous clubs looking at the foreign markets.
“At St Mirren, the likes of Ilkay Durmus came in and did well. While at Aberdeen, Bojan Miovski, Duk and Ylber Ramadani are the three who immediately spring to mind.”
Goodwin eyes ‘very lucrative’ avenue
Aberdeen banked more than £1 million when Ramadani joined Lecce last summer – 10 times more than they paid for the combative midfielder.
With all the tools to step up another level, Miovski is likely to bring in another handsome fee.
“It can be very lucrative if you get it (recruitment) right,” continued Goodwin.
“I would imagine Aberdeen will have some considerable offers for Miovski this summer and will make a good return.
“They made money off Ramadani last summer too – so that’s the kind of business model we want to implement here.
“But it’s about getting the balance; about building a team to compete in the league and then maybe adding one or two from outside the box who not a lot of people know a great deal about.
“That would be the ideal scenario.”
Goodwin: Players can raise profile with SPFL stint
Goodwin is also quick to pinpoint the financial benefit to recruiting from less fashionable leagues as Scottish clubs find it increasingly difficult to compete with English Football League sides.
“In foreign markets – especially in Eastern Europe – players are not always on huge money,” Goodwin continued.
“The way football is now, there are clubs in the lower leagues in England paying massive salaries to players. The amount of money players even in League One down there are getting is vast.
“So, you need to be open-minded to looking elsewhere – and the arrival of Michael (Cairney) will help that.
“He’s got a good knowledge and network of people he can utilise all over Europe and the UK.”
He added: “There definitely are players across Europe who are reachable and, given the success other players have had in Scotland, agents and players now recognise the league.
“This is somewhere you can come to raise your profile because you get a lot of exposure.”
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