Midtjylland’s technical director says there is no such thing as a hidden gem any more. Kristian Kjaer tells BBC Sport that clubs know about teenage talents long before they leave their home league.
“We work on both pathways,” Kjaer explains. “We have subjective scouting, more classic video scouting, live scouting, a network, people we trust in the club and also our partners. And then we have the data scouting. And Dario Osorio, we were aware of him long before we signed him.”
Osorio was being followed by AC Milan, RB Leipzig, Salzburg and English and German clubs before he left Santiago for Denmark at 19. He now has a £24m option to buy with Crystal Palace, which would make him the most expensive sale in Danish Superliga history.
The Osorio path
Midtjylland’s reputation rests on analytics. Brentford owner Matthew Benham was a majority stakeholder at the club between 2014 and 2023. Kjaer says the approach is not just about numbers.
“We cannot just turn on the computer and it tell us who to sign and then we go sign them,” he says. “We also need to know about the cultural background, the family background, to make sure they fit into our football club.”
He adds that data gives smaller clubs a chance, even if the sample size is smaller. “Of course, data has given us opportunities,” he says. “We sign young. So the sample size will simply be smaller for us because if we are waiting until it’s big enough, Brighton and Liverpool and Brentford and other guys, they will sign the player in front of us.”
A global database
Eyeball, a scouting and development platform, now covers more than 400,000 young players across 42 markets from Europe to Africa and Latin America. It is used by more than 60% of clubs in Europe’s top five leagues, and a majority of Premier League sides.
The system takes north of 2,000 data points every match. “There is always this human feel that can never be lost,” says Sam Turner, head of operations at Eyeball. “I like to think we have aided scouts and recruitment teams, supplemented them with the tools, data, information to be able to make more informed decisions on a more consistent basis.”
The company has been used to track Malick Yalcouye, a 20-year-old star at Brighton who developed at Ivorian side ASEC Mimosas, and Bazoumana Toure, now at Newcastle.
Where the gems are found
The story’s title asks if there is anywhere left to scout. Kjaer says the answer is yes, but the approach has changed.
“We can find interesting players all around the world,” he says. “I like us to be open-minded. We are particular in the way we play and the way we sell. And therefore, we need to find these players who fit that style of play.”
One country regularly mentioned is Uzbekistan, who played in their first World Cup this summer. Turner says Azerbaijan is pioneering a national talent network and “very forward-thinking and motivated to progress the game domestically”.
Turner calls Japan a “guiding star” in youth development. Latin America remains a hotbed of talent, but much of the region is “untapped” because players do not get recorded.
| Country | Status |
|---|---|
| Uzbekistan | First World Cup appearance |
| Azerbaijan | Building a national talent network |
| Japan | Called a “guiding star” in youth development |
| Latin America | Hotbed with much untapped visibility |
The warning
Kjaer’s warning is direct. “The pace in decision-making is also a hidden gem.”
That is the one line that suggests he is half joking. A club that built its reputation on data analytics admits it signed Osorio because he was on everyone’s radar, not because he was hidden.
Markets still worth looking at
- Japan — a model for grassroots to professional football
- Latin America — a hotbed with much untapped visibility
- Uzbekistan — playing in their first World Cup
- Azerbaijan — building a national talent network
The final word
The hidden gem is not dead. It is just harder to find.
The companies and clubs now have the tools to find players before anyone else does, and the pace of decision-making has become the new secret weapon.
See the video the story is built around at the BBC.
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