Lee Johnson's £100m transfer background to help Hibs

His first month with the club has witnessed significant change already with seven signings completed and more likely to follow. Jair Tavares, Momodou Bojang, Rocky Bushiri, Ewan Henderson, Nohan Kenneh, David Marshall and Lewis Miller are Johnson’s new recruits so far.

The 41-year-old is preparing for the future with a mandate to rejuvenate Hibs following the brief tenure of Shaun Maloney. The club hierarchy want a return to the top half of the Scottish Premiership and Johnson is ready for the challenge.

Most of his playing career was spent in England apart from six months at Hearts and a year with Kilmarnock. As a manager, this is his first stint north of the border and he is determined to become a success.

Previously in charge at Oldham Athletic, Barnsley, Bristol City and Sunderland, he cited experience of the English Championship as evidence of his ability to consistently build strong squads.

“I think myself and Hibs need stability. I was the longest-serving manager at Bristol City – five years in the Championship – and you can really start to build,” he told BBC Scotland.

“We had nearly £100m of player sales there, and that comes from a consistency in terms of development, playing style, structures, emotional stability for the players and that means you can make good decisions.

“I think when you inherit a squad with two or three managers' opinions about it, it can be difficult and you will need three or four windows at least to iron that one out.”

Johnson explained that his enthusiasm for Scottish football was one of the principal reasons for agreeing to join Hibs.

“It's a brilliant challenge to come up to Scotland and I've always been a fan of the football,” he added. “It's a goldfish bowl in terms of the media, the coaches knowing each other, and the SFA is a tight-knit crew.

“It's always something I wanted to do and when the opportunity arose it felt absolutely natural to take it.”