Luton boss Rob Edwards has hailed the club’s recruitment talents and revealed how data is helping the Hatters compete in the Premier League transfer market by hunting for hidden gems.
In the summer Town managed to pry Teden Mengi away from Manchester United and the manager has previously called the 21-year-old a revelation, which was recently shown in a starring performance at the weekend as they beat Everton 2-1 in the FA Cup.
The club also managed to complete a surprise move for Ross Barkley without any fanfare, while the likes of Chiedozie Ogbene and Thomas Kaminski have been recruited from the lower leagues (Rotherham and Blackburn respectively) and are two of Town’s best performers in the top flight.
And ahead of the January transfer window shutting on Thursday, Town are working on a deal for Japanese international right back Daiki Hashioka from Belgian Jupiler Pro League side Sint-Truiden, in a move reported to be in the region of €2million.
Earlier in the window and last year, the Kenilworth Road club had been linked with Ecuadorian teenager Oscar Zambrano, though Edwards and recently on the Luton Town Supporters’ Trust podcast chairman David Wilkinson have played down those reports.
However, Phil Chapple, the club’s head of scouting operations did travel to South America with Zambrano on his list of a number of players to cast an eye over.
It highlights how the Hatters are now able to look further afield for new recruits, coupled with the work spearheaded by their head of recruitment analysis Jay Socik.
“We are casting the net out further, a lot of recruitment now will be done by data first,” said Edwards.
“People will get flagged up and then you’ve got to get our eyes on them. So they might get flagged up by data, then video, then you want to get out and see them live as well. All of that will happen for us to be able to recruit someone.
“If we’re able to cast the net out a bit further, sometimes you can get a couple of gems. You might be able to get a bit more value for money rather than in this country at times. It’s not something I suppose we’re going to do all of the time, but certainly now, where we’re going as a football club we want to be casting our net a bit further.”
However, with club legend Mick Harford as their chief recruitment officer, there’s more than enough experience with an old school eye to running the tule over targets in person.
“Yes (they’ll be watched), if possible (I’ll watch them), yes. I think it’s important, but I’ve got a lot of trust in our recruitment team,” said Edwards.
“I think they’re better at that than me. I trust people to do their job well and I think they’ve shown over a number of years how good they are with their recruitment. We’re really savvy with our forward thinking, we’re clever with our recruitment and that’s why the club has progressed so much over the last few years. They know what they’re doing a lot more than I do, but we have got a joined up way of thinking.”
But Edwards also still has his say in the decision-making, and he said: “It can work both ways, of course it can, there’s no doubt about that. I think that’s the best way, we need to be on the same page and we are, we are.
“I always try to give credit where it’s due, you can’t be a good manager or a good coach without good players. Our recruitment team have been able to bring us good players, so it allows us to progress and get promoted and compete well in the Premier League.
“That’s down to the hard work of Mick and Chappie, Jay Socik, to all the guys, because they put a lot of time and effort into it. January’s hard, I think it’s shown across the board how difficult it is to recruit at this time of the season. But I’m really lucky, we’ve got really good people working with us for that side of it.”
