Stoke City chief Tony Scholes is full of praise for football director Mark Cartwright.
Former agent and Leek Town manager Cartwright was brought in to head the club's scouting and player recruitment department in December 2012.
Scholes told The Sentinel: "It is a fundamental part of a football club to make sure you are recruiting well at the right price, developing those players while they are with you and, if the time comes when you do sell, you are able to sell at a decent profit.
"It is something that, frankly, we have not done well in the past, but I think some of the recruitment we have done this year has been excellent. That is credit to Mark Cartwright and his team.
"We are in an extremely competitive environment. The Premier League is still the best in the world, with the best players, and we have to keep moving forward.
"By finishing ninth we are able to have conversations with players and attract players that would have been difficult previously for us. I would like to think we have got slightly ahead of the teams we were competing with for signings two, three or four years ago."
