Lee Johnson hopes the success of loan signing Mykola Kukharevych will help Hibs tap into the City Group goldmine more often - and bridge the gap on the Old Firm.
The Ukrainian forward - on loan from Ligue 1 side Troyes - broke his Easter Road duck against St Johnstone on Friday night with a first half header. And boss Johnson reckons the development of the deadline day signing under his coaching staff won’t go unnoticed by Kukharevych’s City Group employers back in France.
But for the brilliance of Saints keeper Remi Matthews, the 21-year-old could have had a hat-trick before being replaced by Ellie Youan with half an hour of Friday’s clash to go. Hibs went on to implode with a Kyle Magennis red card and two late goals consigning them to a third defeat on the spin.
But the impact of 6ft 4in Kukharevych has been a positive over an erratic spell that’s seen the Easter Road side swap a four game winning run with the three-game slump. Not only was his aerial threat obvious when he outjumped Alex Mitchell for the opener against Saints but the frontman has shown good movement and an ability to run at defenders from deep too.
Johnson has previously spent time shadowing coaches at City Group clubs. He reckons Kukharevych’s progress in Scotland can help forge a golden relationship with the business whose conveyer belt of talent includes youngsters at Manchester City, New York City and Yokohama Marinos among others.
And that, he says, is crucial to trying to bridge the budget gap on the Premiership’s big two. He said: "The history of the City Group, signing Mykola, and my connection with the City Group and the connection with the development of those I’ve had over the years becomes important.
“Effectively, they’ve entrusted myself, the coaching team and Hibs as a club to help develop what they believe is a player of extremely high potential. Some of that is game-time, some of that is the individual coaching we do, some of that is the environment we create for the player.
“That, for us, could be gold because of the number of players who are in that group and the talent pool they have and the money they spend. We have to work smartly to maximise and try to bridge the gap between the finances of the bigger clubs in the division. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Johnson’s summer recruitment hit double figures with loan deals also seeing Youan arrived from St Gallen, Momodou Bojang from Rainbow FC and Will Fish from Manchester United.
But in time he hopes Hibs own academy will provide the talent to light up Easter Road. Steve Kean’s U19 side tackle Nantes in the UEFA Youth League on Wednesday and are brimming with talent such as strikers Ethan Laidlaw and Josh O’Connor.
Johnson said: “Sometimes we have to take a risk. Everybody’s got their own story and some players are paid X amount and other players are paid less because they’re punts or they’ve got something we believe we can work on.
“That’s why over the period of four or five windows we expect to narrow the squad and make sure the numbers are smaller by finding out who can work within our system and promote the talented young players we have.
“I think we’ve got four or five of the best 16-year-olds in the country. Now, they’re not ready yet, because they’re 16, but in two years’ time we need to be understanding whether their performance levels are ready to oust the senior players.
“And therefore we can spend more of the pie on your Boyle types; ready-made players, ready to go and maybe not take as many punts, because our young players know us and know the system and know the culture."
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