Bruno's Magpies' cheeky swoop for Derry City hitman Pat Hoban
DERRY City's Uefa Conference League opponents Bruno's Magpies sensationally swooped for top goalscorer Pat Hoban before he agreed to sign for the Brandywell club last Christmas.
The Galwegian hitman, who has netted 12 goals since arriving from Dundalk as a free agent in the close season, was contacted by the Gibraltar outfit's Sporting Director Jansen Dalli on social media but claimed he couldn't afford the player's wages.
Dalli, who is in charge of the Magpies' recruitment, was so impressed by Hoban who scored against them at Oriel Park in Dundalk's 3-1 Conference League first qualifying round victory last season, he reached out to him on Instagram.
Of course the move was never on the cards for Dundalk's record goalscorer Hoban who had already decided he would be signing for Ruaidhrí Higgins troops for the 2024 campaign and the rest is history.
The approach is evidence of how ambitious the Gibraltarians are and Dalli is confident the Magpies have a fighting chance to progress to a second round against Danish outfit Copenhagen.
"I actually went to sign Hoban last Christmas," claimed the Magpies Sporting Director. "However, I can get someone from a higher level like Hoban at a cheaper rate from Spain because the financial situation in the UK, England and Ireland, it's more stable than in Spain.
"So someone like Hoban would cost me my highest paid player. I would not be able to have two or three of those."
So how advanced did those tentative approaches get?
"I contacted him through Instagram and spoke to him a little bit and he told me to speak to his agent. Obviously finding out the salary, it was slightly steep for us.
"Anything above £3,500 or £4,000 a month is very hard for us or anyone in our league because of the sustainability of our league. If we don't get into Europe, financially you don't get anything in return. You just throw money in. We don't have league rights. We don't have TV rights, we don't have anything."
Dalli reckons Hoban and Daniel Kelly who also played against the Magpies last season, will be warning Derry not to underestimate the part-timers.
"I know Daniel Kelly and a couple of others who we have played against and they will probably say to not underestimate us.”