Eddie Howe has welcomed Newcastle United's search for elite scouts across the globe because the club's success 'depends on recruitment'.
Newcastle have cast the net wide for talent spotters living in or within travelling distance of seven geographical clusters in Europe and South America. These include France; Germany, Holland and Belgium; Spain and Portugal; Italy, Switzerland and Croatia; Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, Denmark and Serbia; Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador; and Argentina and Uruguay.
According to the job advert, the scouts will act as 'ambassadors' for the club in their specific region, leading on the identification and assessment of 'emerging talent and first-team targets'. They will ultimately recommend 'appropriate high quality talent' in line with the club's strategy.
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This investment in the club's scouting network could end up saving Newcastle millions in transfer fees in the long run if the Magpies manage to spot talents before they truly explode in value. That is certainly something Howe can get behind.
"Your football club's success depends on recruitment," the Newcastle boss told reporters. "It's that important. Who you bring into your football club really dictates everything that happens afterwards.
"I'm not involved in the structure of how we set up those departments. That's other people's jobs, but I'll certainly welcome any changes that are positive for what we do."
The scouts must have 'extensive demonstrable experience of talent assessment and identification within elite professional football and a strong network in their respective locations'. Expert knowledge of football, including game models, playing style and profiles of technical, tactical, physical and psychological traits, is deemed 'critical' while a 'strong understanding' of how data can help assess players is considered 'essential'.
Among the talent spotters' responsibilities will be completing detailed reports on targets; collating extensive information and references regarding the potential players; and producing monthly positional lists on emerging talents and first-team players as Newcastle attempt to boost their presence on the ground.
It is the latest move Newcastle have made to bolster their ranks after the club advertised for a head of data and insight, a lead video analyst, positional analysts, an under-13 to under-18 UK scouting lead, a head of emerging talent, a recruitment operations manager and a scouting lead in recent months.
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