Jim Goodwin wants to sell Dundee United to players the way he did when he brought Bojan Miovski into Aberdeen from MTK Budapest two years ago.
The Tannadice outfit are back in the Scottish Premiership after winning the second tier last season and Goodwin is eager to build a competitive squad.
He knows that venturing into the British market can prove expensive, so instead, using contacts in Eastern Europe that helped lure Miovski to Scottish football looks to be the ideal route for the Irishman.
Miovski has netted 44 times from 95 appearances in Aberdeen colours and is attracting strong interest from teams based in the top five European leagues. Now Goodwin's former employers are demanding a club record fee if they are to allow the North Macedonian striker to depart Pittodrie.
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"I think, as a club, we recognise the fact that the British market right now is financially a difficult one given the resources not just in the English Championship but some of the bigger clubs in League One and League Two in England now are paying salaries that we just can’t compete with," Goodwin acknowledged when discussing Dundee United's transfer plans.
"So we have to think outside the box. We have to be willing to do a bit of travelling and our head of recruitment, Michael Cairney, is certainly up to the task and has identified some really good players up to now."
Dundee United have made six new acquisitions during the summer transfer window so far; including North Macedonian winger, Kristijan Trapanovski, and Croatian defender, Vicko Sevelj.
And Goodwin believes recruiting stars from that market often can pay off because they really cherish the opportunity.
"The Trapanovski one, I have been able to get that in motion due to the fact of my relationship with Bojan Miovski’s agent and delighted he assisted us in bringing Kristijan to Dundee United," Goodwin revealed.
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"Vaclav Hladky is another player I think back to when I was at St Mirren and he is now down at Ipswich Town, just gained promotion to the Premier League in England, so there has been a lot of success stories, not just for myself but for other clubs of players coming from the Eastern European market and having good success in Scotland.
"I enjoy working with the Eastern European players because they are very humble, they have got a great work ethic and more often than not are very grateful to be given the opportunity to come and play in the Scottish Premiership."
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