a.stockhausen@bepp.co.uk

Bristol City manager Steve Coppell will monitor the World Cup for potential new signings.

Football's greatest show on earth kicks off in South Africa on Friday and Coppell will be glued to his television set in an attempt to identify hitherto untapped talent.

The football revolutions in Africa, Asia and North America have changed the face of European football in recent times and many overseas players now ply their trade in the United Kingdom and the nearby Continent.

Although those markets have become virtually the sole preserve of Europe's top clubs, Coppell believes some of the smaller nations involved in the World Cup could still provide value for money for clubs outside of the Premier League.

"There are those players who come from nowhere and make you sit up and take notice, but ordinarily from the nations you do not know well," said Coppell, who played for England in the 1982 World Cup finals in Spain.

"We used to look to the African nations to throw up new players, but most of those are now playing in Europe.

"These days, it is the same even with the United States, whose best players are either in this country or elsewhere on the Continent.

"That said, there are other areas to search and maybe New Zealand, Australia or other countries you haven't really thought of could produce someone to interest you."

Coppell acknowledges that the competition's biggest stars will fall outside of City's financial spectrum, but insists there are other players who will be affordable to Championship clubs.

He explained: "Those lesser footballing nations are the only realistic options when you are looking for players who can operate at Championship level.

"You're not really looking for the obvious players who catch the eye, because they are going to end up in the Premier League or one of the other big European leagues.

"At our level, we're interested in those players the top European and English clubs would not look at. Those players are there just below the surface and I will be looking just like all the other managers.

"I might miss out on some of the bigger games, but I will certainly watch some of the lower profile ones to see what is out there."

Rather than travel to South Africa, Coppell will watch games on television, rely on DVD recordings and information gleaned from agents.

He said: "As always in these situations, agents will be getting busy, making contact and trying to sell their wares. Agents are the scouts at this time of the year and they alert you to the players that are available and they give you the background information which helps you form opinions and make decisions.

"There will an awful lot of very good agents at the World Cup and they will be giving managers stuff we want to know."