There is no question, now, that Hibs' link-up with Bill Foley will slip that bit extra into future transfer funds. What remains to be seen, however, is how far forward can it push the club?

Watching the likes of Myziane Maolida and Emiliano Marcondes these last few weeks, fans have - understandably - tossed aside the age-old wisdom that forbids falling in love with a loan player. But does this relationship have to be a fleeting one? Can investment from the Black Knights make permanent signings of such a calibre more than just a supporter's dream?

As things stand, Nick Montgomery won't rule anything out. That's to be expected, of course, as you'll be hard pushed to find a manager who declares a signing out of his reach until he's been explicitly told so. But the Hibs manager is also a realist, and as such kept his cards mostly close to his chest.

Is he saying there's a chance, though?

“If they like it here and enjoy it here," Montgomery answered. "Emi has come in and he’s out of contract at the end of the season so there will be an opportunity.  Myziane undoubtedly has huge talent and that’s been seen in the level of transfer fees people have paid for him in the past. 

“Like many players, they sometimes lose their way, go to the wrong environment, lose confidence and find themselves falling out of love with football.  When I spoke to Myziane about the club and explained what I wanted, we told him we’d get him enjoying his football. 

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“We said we’d stick him on the pitch because we know what he can do. I think he’s been growing week-in, week-out and I think there’s so much more to come from him still. 

“So if they enjoy it here and enjoy the club then you’ve always got a chance.  Obviously any player has to fit within the budget that we have and that’s something you can’t avoid. 

“But to bring players in on loan like him was a great bit of business for the club. I wouldn’t say the investment makes it possible but it makes it more achievable in different ways. 

“You can be creative bringing players in, whether it’s on loan or it’s permanent.  Having the ability to be linked with a network of clubs, bringing players to Hibs knowing that if they can perform here there may be a transition to Bournemouth, to France with Liorent or over to Auckland in future. 

“Having that network is definitely attractive for agents and players but number one will be wanting to play for Hibs because this is a massive club with big expectation.  It won’t make us able to compete with every club in the league in terms of budgets but what it does do it give us a bit more room to manoeuvre, bring players in on pre-contracts for next season and continue to build the squad.”  

Where Montgomery is absolutely certain is in this quality of his forward line, insisting that Marcondes, Myziane and Martin Boyle could push for a place at any team in the Premiership, including over in Glasgow.

“You have to be consistent and consistently play well," he said. "But when you look at the quality I believe they’ve got the quality to play in any team in this league. 

“I think there’s more to come as well from Marcondes and Myziane because they’ve gone from not playing in a long time. So there’s a lot more to come and with Martin Boyle, who on his day is a real threat to anyone. It’s nice to have attacking players who can hurt teams. 

“I think we can score a lot more goals than we have and can still be more clinical in key moments.  But with the quality we have in our team, if we defend properly we’ll create opportunities to win games."

Myziane has netted four times in nine appearances as he gets up to speed after a period in exile at Hertha Berlin. Marcondes, too, has scored twice, and Montgomery quipped that it's about time someone lifted the weight of responsibility from Boyle, so often Hibs' talisman in times of need.

“Martin is feeling a little bit lighter and we’ve had a joke about that," Montgomery said. "We rely on Martin a lot to create things and score goals for us.  Knowing he’s got other players in the team who can create and score goals has relieved a bit of pressure off him. 

“He’s played really well since coming back into the team but we want to be sharing goals around the team.  There was a period where Martin had a lot of pressure on him to score and create.  So maybe he’s feeling he doesn’t know what to do with himself! 

“But, seriously, I think he will benefit from that because it’s a team game and while I don’t think we solely relied on him, there was a time he was the focal point. 

“He’s played out of position due to a lack of depth in the squad. Playing with better players always makes you get better yourself so he will benefit. 

“Dylan Vente is a striker we know can score goals and he’s still adapting to the league and the physicality of it here.  But he’s had a lot of chances, gets himself in positions to score and no doubt it will click with him soon.”  

It's been a positive couple of weeks at Easter Road, and a sharp turnaround considering the anger which poured from the stands after a dire 3-0 defeat to St Mirren in February. Montgomery's side dispatched Dundee and Ross County, either side of drawing with Hearts, as they hurtle into today's Scottish Cup quarter-final against Rangers.

Hibs have conceded seven goals in their two meetings with Phillipe Clement's side this season, but Montgomery believes their growing momentum can make this tie a much closer-run affair.

“We should have won all three of those last games, but took seven points from nine, so the boys are all confident," said the manager.  “Sunday is a great game for us.  We are a very different team to the last time we played Rangers and even on that night we could have hurt them a few times in attacking moments. 

“Their keeper pulled off some great saves but we were not clinical and that’s why we lost the game.  So I think having this week to recover, giving the boys a long week running into the game, we’ll go into it full of confidence.  We will definitely go to win the game.”