Thursday 11 December 2014 17:03, UK
Burnley boss Sean Dyche will test the waters of the European transfer market in January as he seeks to bolster his options for the second half of the Premier League season.
Dyche has always acknowledged he would do his business in the domestic market as the club simply did not have the resources to scout much further afield, and his squad is the only one in the top division made up solely of British and Irish players.
But they recently appointed former Everton and Manchester United scout Robbie Cooke as their UK and international scout and Dyche hopes a wider circle will give him a chance to bring better players to Turf Moor.
"It's well documented we were behind the curve with regards the recruitment system," said Dyche.
Who is that? That's news to me.
"We had one but we weren't going into Europe. Now we are venturing over there. That doesn't mean we are going to sign anyone but we are beginning to get the background and trying to get depth of knowledge that's needed in recruitment.
"But there's no guarantees; they don't just grow on trees out there. There's this misconception that you go into Europe and there's thousands of players who are all brilliant for the Premier League. It's not so.
"We still have to define the ones that are right, we still have to align them with the team and what fits the team moving forward. The British market has been a lot more unpredictable and a lot higher than it has been historically.
"It's always been thought of as higher than going into Europe, which is why there are so many players from further afield coming into the English game, particularly at the Premier League level. We've found that it has been very, very tough.
"I can't see it going backwards. With the new TV deal, everyone tells me that's going to go up. There's every chance the fees, contracts, wages, will go up in turn. It's a tough challenge for us as a club."
But Dyche scoffed at links with South American midfielder Junior Somoza, who Burnley were mooted to be interested in earlier this week.
"Who is that? That's news to me," he added. It would be highly unlikely that (our scouting) goes that far afield.
"We're starting off building a base in England, going into Europe as the first marker and if and when there's time to go beyond that, we'll see. But certainly not at the moment, no."
