Leeds United director of football Victor Orta has offered an insight into how he uses data and statistics to identify potential targets, explaining the Whites do not have two or three scouts per league.
Orta has been key in building the side that Marcelo Bielsa currently has challenging for promotion from the Championship to the Premier League.
The Spaniard has taken players from a host of leagues to Elland Road, from the Swiss top flight to the top tier in Sweden, from the second tier in France to the Polish league.
Orta admits that Leeds simply do not have the scouting man power to put two or three talent spotters to work on a single league and instead use programmes to filter players by statistics before taking a closer look.
"For example", he told Play Futbol when asked how he uses big data, "I do an old style viewing with my team of scouts, looking for a number 8 and from which we get four interesting names.
"And, as I know that the coach likes to intercept possession in the opposition half, then I apply the filter and see which one of those is the one who intercepts most in the opposition half.
"In other words, it is about applying filters, but taking into account our game model.
"We do not have people to have two or three scouts per league, or to constantly watch the Swedish league, so what I do is reverse the process.
"First, I use the filter for 19-year-old players who have played at least 60 per cent of the minutes.
"And, later, with the names that we take out, we do the viewing with my team."
Orta is at present unclear which league Leeds will be competing in next season and whether the Whites go up or remain in the Championship is sure to have a big effect on the level of funds available to the Spaniard.
