Former Hull City manager Phil Brown has claimed that he identified the talents of both Edinson Cavani and Alvaro Negredo long before their big-money transfers this summer.

Uruguayan international Cavani became the fifth most expensive player in football history earlier this month when he signed for Paris-Saint Germain, while Spanish international Negredo is believed to have cost Manchester City around £22m.

However, Brown has revealed that he held talks to sign both strikers when he was manager of Hull back in 2009.

"We were in the Premier League and full of ambition under chairman Paul Duffen. My chief scout Bob Shaw and assistant manager Brian Horton went to watch Cavani, who was available at Palermo," Brown told the Daily Star.

"They recommended him and we offered £2.5m. I remember the negotiations and it was a deal with a number of clauses in the contract. When it didn't happen, we switched to Negredo, who at the time was at Real Madrid. That was going to be a loan for the season. We were going to pay £12m, plus his wages, then Real were going to buy him back for £13m, but Cavani eventually went to Napoli and Negredo signed for Sevilla.

"Why didn't they come to Hull? The club was not big enough. In Negredo's case, you were talking about going from Real Madrid to Hull City. But the important thing was that we were ahead of the game in terms of spotting these players. That's where we were at at Hull City."

Brown is now the manager of League Two side Southend United.