Blackburn Rovers will mix their recruitment strategy to maximise their transfer budget this summer.
With around half a dozen new signings targeted by Valerien Ismael to bolster his squad, Rovers will again be looking for value in the transfer market.
Head of Football Operations, Rudy Gestede, is leading the search to uncover more possible hidden talents that can have an impact at Championship level.
We know the areas that Rovers are targeting. Left-sided centre-back, right-back, central midfielder (box-to-box), right-wing and striker. Of course, that list could grow depending on possible departures.
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Ismael is keen for Rovers to act quickly in the summer, challenging the recruitment team to have 90% of his squad assembled by the end of June. That would be unprecedented but Rovers must act with more urgency than the last two summer windows.
There are positive signs that this is the case. The Lancashire Telegraph exclusively revealed Rovers are in advanced talks with Montpellier to sign defender Modibo Sagnan. They've also put the feelers out to assess Cody Drameh's situation and there are plenty more talks ongoing in the background.
Transfer negotiations are being led by Gestede with the club pushing forward with their plans despite the departure of Chief Executive Steve Waggott.
Rovers had good success in the foreign markets, acquiring the likes of Yuki Ohashi, Yuri Ribeiro and Balazs Toth from abroad. Adam Owen's wide book of contacts has proved important in uncovering untapped areas of the market.
It will be another summer of mixed recruitment. Some names, such as Sagnan, where fans will have to open up Wikipedia. Others will be more familiar.
There will be four clubs with parachute payments next season, plus big-spending clubs such as Birmingham City and Wrexham, for Rovers to compete with. In order to do so, they will have to think outside the box.
"It's very difficult to compete against the teams coming down," Gestede told The Lancashire Telegraph last month.
"They've got the parachute payments, also teams who've got massive fan base and they're able to spend money because the commercial aspect of it is bringing more revenue at the club. But it's not impossible.
"We believe as a club that if you are a bit creative and proactive in decisions, you're able to compete. We've seen this season that obviously injuries came and the performance went down a bit and the results went down. But for a good part of the season, we showed that we're able to compete against teams with a big budget.
"I don't want to just find an excuse about the money. I think we are more than capable of finding the right players for the squad, bringing value to this league and making sure we give them the support needed to perform on the pitch. So as a club, what we have to do is have a clear process, a clear style of football.
"You have to identify your players very early in the transfer window and don't waste time being agent-led on players. So then you can go for your targets straight away.
"It has to be an alignment of ideas and decisions from the head coach, from the board, from the head of football operations, from the head of technical development. The full club has to be behind it."
Whilst fighting the financial gravity of the Championship is never easy, in each of the season three seasons, one of the promoted sides has been a non-parachute payment club.
Sunderland are the latest example that proves aligned strategy, smart recruitment and brave decision-making can lead to success. Ipswich Town and Luton Town were similar success stories beforehand.
All three of those clubs had investments in their squads. Rovers have a transfer budget available to them and it's up to Gestede and Co to ensure that it is maximised this summer.
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