Lincoln City: Imps can compete despite small budget, says Jez George

How Lincoln try and build a team for the Championship, and what transfer fees it will take to try help make that happen, will come down to value for money at a club that has never paid more than £350,000 for a player.

That was a record set only last summer when they brought Ukrainian midfielder Ivan Varfolomeev to the LNER Stadium.

Lincoln are often lauded for spending their money smartly – with forward Jack Moylan costing around £50,000 from Shelbourne in January 2024.

Moylan went to become a central figure in Lincoln’s promotion-winning campaign, and has become a Republic of Ireland international.

George says he, along with Imps director of talent identification Joe Hutchinson, have been “jumping on planes, trains and automobiles” since promotion was confirmed to try and find more of those players by scouring European leagues.

“We will undoubtedly break our transfer record this summer and we may do that on a multiple number of occasions, but they will only be done if it stacks up in terms of value, affordability and the player being ready to contribute immediately into the league and also have the attributes and the potential to be a significant future asset for the club,” George said.

George added Lincoln would have to “show ambition” with their transfer targets but said the club would not risk overstretching itself.

“We will need to bring in some players a little bit more mature, with some games behind them and preferably those who have played in the Championship in the last season or two,” George said.

“But that comes at a massive cost and what we don’t want with wages is put ourselves in a position where, if the worst thing happens and we weren’t to retain our status in the Championship, we create financial ruin for the football club.

“We have to be responsible, but we have to show enough ambition to give ourselves a chance of staying there as well.”