Hibernian will turn to AFC Bournemouth's head of recruitment analysis Garvan Stewart as they look to overhaul their first-team squad amid ongoing criticism of their recruitment strategy in recent seasons.

Stewart, who was in attendance for Saturday's 2-1 defeat by St Mirren, is expected to be named as the new head of recruitment as part of significant changes to the Scottish Premiership side's player identification department ahead of another summer of change, with 15 players due to depart the club at the end of the 2024/25 campaign. 

Hibs have brought in more than 60 players for the first team in the last four seasons, with limited success, and co-owner Ian Gordon said in a September interview with The Scotsman that 'too much instability had been created with the footballing turnover'.

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He also admitted 'mistakes had been made on the recruitment front', adding: "We tried to go too international, too young, too quickly."

When Hibs issued a statement on Monday signalling that head coach David Gray would be given more time to try to arrest an alarming run of form that has seen Hibs win just one game in 12 to leave them bottom of the Scottish top flight, they stressed the importance of working with the Black Knights in a bid to overhaul on-field matters and Stewart's anticipated arrival is part of the burgeoning link-up between Hibs and Bill Foley's stable.

Black Knight president Tim Bezbatchenko took in the 1-1 draw with Dundee United during a visit to Edinburgh and club chiefs are in regular contact with the former Columbus Crew chief as well as Foley and right-hand man Ryan Caswell. 

Irish-born Stewart, 38, obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Sport, Exercise, and Coaching Science, with a focus on biomechanics and performance analysis from Manchester Metropolitan University before gaining a Master of Science degree in Performance Analysis at Cardiff Met. 

His career in football began with the Football Association of Wales in 2006 where he served as an analyst before taking up similar roles with Cardiff City in 2008 and later Portsmouth, where he worked his way up from academy analyst to head of analysis in just four years. 

Stewart joined the Cherries in the summer of 2012, initially as head of performance analysis before working his way up the food chain and taking on the recruitment analysis role in February 2023.