BURNLEY'S new head of European recruitment Ian Butterworth said the Clarets are keen to bring more players in from overseas as domestic market values continue to rise.

The former Norwich City manager and QPR chief scout joined the club earlier this summer and is tasked with overseeing Burnley's scouting and recruitment activities in Europe.

Clarets chairman Mike Garlick said at the end of this season that the club now had eyes on more players than ever before and 53-year-old Butterworth is playing a key part in broadening Burnley's horizons for new additions to Sean Dyche's squads.

The club have gradually begun to bring more players in from the continent, with the addition of Steven Defour from Anderlecht for £7.5million their most high profile recruit from Europe.

Jelle Vossen and Rouwen Hennings have also brought a continental flavour to the Clarets squad in recent seasons, although Vossen's spell at Turf Moor ended after just two months and Hennings spent last season back on loan in Germany with Fortuna Dusseldorf.

Butterworth believes he has joined a good set-up at Turf Moor and said his appointment came as the Clarets tried to increase their scouting network in Europe.

"Burnley are a good, solid club with a very good manager in Sean Dyche, and he’s done really well," he told the Eastern Daily Press.

"He gets the best out of his players and they are a club progressing very slowly but surely.

"They’ve got a brand new training ground they’ve been in for only two months. They’ve got good people behind the scenes, a bit like Norwich – local businessmen who have done good. And they don’t make too many bad decisions it seems.

"They want to branch out into Europe and get some players because those in England, it’s ridiculous the market values that you’re paying for.

"Burnley are trying to establish themselves in the Premier League and to do that, you’ve got to be at it every year, spend the right amount of money, have good leadership. They are trying to progress and here I am."

Butterworth turned to scouting after his caretaker spell in the dugout at Carrow Road in 2009.

"I’ve not looked back," he said. "I’ve travelled extensively around Europe and England, I know where players are, I’ve mixed with directors of football, presidents, owners, I’ve got a lot of connections in the game.

"I’ve had other opportunities but this one came up and I just fancied a change, so I’ve taken it."