Newcastle United have long-term aim to match Brighton’s super scouting system after Albion make £360million profit
Eddie Howe was waiting outside the Brighton & Hove Albion Press conference room to face the media after the 3-1 defeat at the American Express Stadium.
He couldn’t hear what was being said through the sound proof glass windows but Seagulls boss Roberto De Zerbi wasn’t waxing lyrical about his side’s performance or the brilliance of Irish youngster Evan Ferguson. The sweat on Ferguson’s shirt had barely dried after he’d blasted in a hat-trick against Newcastle and his manager was being asked if he feared that the teenager would soon be sold.
Yet De Zerbi wasn’t flustered by such a question and simply said: “Sell him? That’s what we do.” And that’s exactly what Brighton do with their stars but only for copious amounts of money after signing them on the cheap.
In just two years Brighton splashed out £199m on players and picked up £248m in sales. That’s not including Moises Caicedo who left for £115million Chelsea after costing just £4.5million from Independiente.
Of course, in sporting director Dan Ashworth, Newcastle have the man who knows a lot about the inner workings of the Amex Stadium. It’s why Brighton were so incensed when the Magpies lured him north but that was only one piece of the jigsaw and there is work to be done on Tyneside.
Howe said: “Both those clubs (Brentford and Brighton) have been excellent in the transfer market and have been at the forefront of trying to find players around the world for cheap prices. Young players, developing them and then turning them into Premier League players. “In Brighton’s case selling them on for huge sums of money.
“So it’s a really good model. In order for you to deliver that yourself you need the unique tools that they have to enable themselves to find the talent. We don’t have that luxury yet. We don’t have the means to do that, hopefully in the future we will because I think it’s something every football club is looking at with envy really.
“Having the resource to be able to pick players before they’re known to the wider world is a real talent.”How are Brighton doing it? The South Coast employ scouts and search for players by positions using recruitment analysts to oversee what is essentially a data-led strategy that is paying dividends. They cast the recruitment net further and wider around the world and look at markets which other clubs aren’t yet exploring.
Even Howe admitted before the international break, Newcastle still have catching up to do. In a world that is now being dominated by talk of Artificial intelligence technology, using that method to find stars, Howe is cautious on going too far on signing players without tried and trusted scouting missions.
For years, the unsung efforts of scouts spending time in the back of deserted main stands at clubs like Carlisle, Hartlepool and beyond looking for untapped talent formed a big part of Newcastle’s recruitment model. Infamously, the same method lost them stars like Michael Carrick and the might Alan Shearer back in the say to the likes of West Ham and Southampton.
And while Newcastle do use technology to whittle down their search for talent, the sight of long serving scout Paul Baker at the signing of Trevan Sanusi from Birmingham showed that the hard yards are still being put in by Newcastle’s recruitment team.
When asked if Newcastle would be upping their use of AI rather than the traditional scouts, Howe said: “I don’t think so. I still think you need an opinion from the manager or the coaches or the recruitment team.
“I still think it is a vital part of recruitment because statistics and that model of recruitment only tells you one part. But I do believe there is another part that needs to be judged.
“So I hope I never lose touch with signing players. Ultimately, in my eyes, it is so important because I am going to have to build a relationship with the player. I have to love the player and develop that player. I’d still need that side of it.”
Getting to the stage Brighton are at, where huge cash injections are funding the challenge for European places due to shrewd business off the field, is the next main aim for Newcastle and Howe.
Howe said: “Both those clubs (Brentford and Brighton) have been excellent in the transfer market and have been at the forefront of trying to find players around the world for cheap prices. Young players, developing them and then turning them into Premier League players. “In Brighton’s case selling them on for huge sums of money.
“So it’s a really good model. In order for you to deliver that yourself you need the unique tools that they have to enable themselves to find the talent. We don’t have that luxury yet. We don’t have the means to do that, hopefully in the future we will because I think it’s something every football club is looking at with envy really.
“Having the resource to be able to pick players before they’re known to the wider world is a real talent.”
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