Magilton will not pay over the odds

Derek Davis

JIM Magilton will not be flashing the cash even though he has Marcus Evans' millions backing him.

The Blues boss today vowed not to pay over the odds for any of his targets, and that includes centre-halves Gareth McAuley and Roger Johnson, but will not be deterred by big price tags if they are worth it.

Magilton said: “The perception out there is that we are prepared to spend anything on a player.

“That's not the case and never has been the case. We are very prudent. What we want to do is make sure it's the right player for us. “If we have to pay what we have to pay for a player to get the right man in, then we will. It's also nice to pick someone up and develop them and then maybe sell them on for big money.

“The way I see it, that is part of the business world. That's part of my job.”

With the bid to secure McAuley held up by the managerial situation at Leicester after Ian Holloway's departure and Cardiff asking three times the valuation of other clubs for Johnson, it is more likely that Dutch defender Pim Balkestein will be Magilton's first player signing of the summer.

Before that though it is likely that the new overseas scout will be appointed and that could see more bargain buys arriving from the continent.

Magilton said: “The foreign market is one that we want to exploit. We have found that when we have chased after 'home' players, the impression is that we have got mega bucks to spend. But we are very diligent in the way we go about our business.

“The English market dictates that you have to pay sometimes a little bit more than you would expect.

“There are a lot of good foreign players our there that can do the same job for a lot less money so we need to spread the net far and wide for Ipswich Town and having an international scout on board will help.”

Ex Town scout Simon Hunt and former Blues FA Cup winner David Geddis are high on the list of candidates, with at least one foreign scout being considered to work alongside Steve McCall.

Magilton said: “Steve McCall has done a great job for us as chief scout, on a limited budget with limited finances to play with.

“It's not easy to make the transition from a coaching role to scouting as Steve has done but he has coped with it really well and no one has clocked up more miles for this club than Steve.

“Now we are giving him the opportunity to work alongside someone with specialist knowledge of the European game. The new man should be confirmed by the end of the week and that will open up other avenues for us to explore for players.”