Cherries: Chairman will look to Europe

04 July 2011 07:00
EDDIE Mitchell says Cherries will cast their net across Europe for new recruits and believes some English players are pricing themselves out of the market.[LNB] Chairman Mitchell has already started to forge links in Russia with Lokomotiv Moscow due to take top billing at the EC Group Cup at Dean Court later this month.[LNB] Mitchell also recently sanctioned chief scout Des Taylor's trip to the European Under-21 Championship finals in Denmark where he scouted several possible targets.[LNB] Although Cherries have a strict wage cap in place, players from certain countries could apparently double their salaries by moving without going through the club's ceiling.[LNB] Mitchell told the Daily Echo: With the wage differentials, we may be able to pick up top quality players from eastern European countries on the budget we have in place. There are League One-standard players there that would come here for a lot less. It is something we are looking at.[LNB] As much as we want to get half-a-dozen homegrown players in our squad each season, we also have to see where we can get the best footballers for the least money and there is every chance we will be looking to some of the eastern European counties.[LNB] To a degree, I think some players in this country are pricing themselves out of the market. We have a wage cap and are going to work within it. We can't risk breaking it for anybody and can only sign players we can afford.[LNB] It is for us to get out there and find the best players for the least money over the next few seasons and that will involve bringing in players from other countries.[LNB] We are looking at Russia and other eastern European countries. It is a big world out there and there are lots of players outside of this country that we need to view.[LNB] Chief scout Taylor focused his attentions on the likes of Iceland, Ukraine, Belarus and Czech Republic during the European Under-21 Championships.[LNB] Although they were perceived as the less fancied countries in the tournament, one of them Czech Republic were responsible for eliminating a star-studded England team.[LNB] Taylor watched a number of group matches during his 10-day trip before reporting back with his findings to Cherries boss Lee Bradbury.[LNB] He was also fortunate to stay in the same hotel as the Czech Republic and Iceland squads and chewed the fat over dinner one evening with Rudolf Bata, the former president of the FA of Czech Republic.[LNB]

Source: Bournemouth_Echo