Johan Lange has revealed that data is an element of Tottenham's transfer strategy but watching the player live multiple times and their personality is a major factor. As is the case for a number of football clubs now, data is key for Tottenham when it comes to trying to find the perfect signing who can be a huge hit in the first team as they build a side for the future.
However, what is extremely important when it comes to signing a deal off is how the prospective new addition comes across in either his conversations with Lange or Ange Postecoglou as Tottenham want to add the right type of characters to their group. Taking part in Tottenham's fan forum at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Monday evening, Lange was quizzed on Spurs' transfer policy and whether data or pure instinct is a deciding factor in their signings.
"It's definitely not all about data," replied Tottenham's technical director. "We use data as an element in the recruitment process but we have not signed any player without watching the player multiple times live in the stadium. And we have not signed a player and will not sign a player unless I have spoken to the player or Ange has spoken to the player as well because, as much as the style of play is important, the personality fit is so, so important as well.
"Ange and I have had multiple discussions about which type of characters we want in the group - younger players, older players, certain positions on the pitch that require a certain personality trait - that is something we are discussing on a day-to-day basis and we have in-depth conversations with not only the players we sign but managers they have played under, teammates, everyone around them and family members as well. It is very much about the personality as well and yes data is an element in the recruitment process but it is far more going into it."
Tottenham very much have one eye on the future when it comes to their transfer business. The Lilywhites have added talented teenagers Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and Wilson Odobert to their squad for this campaign, with Yang Min-hyeok set to join up with the squad in January.
Certainly a different approach to Tottenham's previous strategy, Lange was asked why has this come about and what message does it already send to the players currently in the club's academy.
"I think when you're building a squad for sustainable success over the years, I think to have a different age profile within each position is actually quite important," he said. "So if we take our midfield at the moment, we will have three or four players around the peak age of 25 to 27 and we will have three of four players who are younger who can push the players as they are here to compete and already now can play in the Premier League and all the cup competitions but they're not at the same stage in their career.
"To have a good balanced squad I think that is actually quite important and I think some of the younger players we have signed this summer are some of the brightest talents in European football as well. In terms of our academy, that is so important for us, it's the heart of every football club and certainly our football club both now and has been in the past as well.
"I think the alignment between the academy and first team now under Ange is incredible. There are players from the academy who train with the first team each week and under the leadership of Andy Scoulding we have uplifted our loans programme as well because in England the second team cannot play in the division.
"The loans programme is quite important and we are making new investments in the academy as well, so I would say the future of the academy looks very bright and it is something we are working ever so hard on on a day-to-day basis."
Given Tottenham's previous transfer dealings and the small number of players coming through the academy to establish themselves in the first team, one issue Spurs have had over recent seasons is naming a 25-man squad for UEFA club competition. As the rules do differ slightly when it comes to the Premier League, young trio Gray, Bergvall and Odobert have had to be included on Spurs' main list, compared to the U21 list they are on in the Premier League, as they have not been at the club for the required three consecutive seasons.
This has caused some issues for Tottenham and it has led to them only naming a 23-man squad for this year's Europa League, with Djed Spence a notable absentee due to the regulations. Lange is well aware of the issue and he and the club are now doing "a lot of new initiatives" to ensure that the squad issue becomes a thing of the past and does not trouble Tottenham later down the line.
"It is something that cannot be fixed in a fast way because in order to be club trained you need to be at the football club for three consecutive seasons between [the age of] 15 and 21, so it's not a problem that you can buy yourself out of," outlined Spurs' technical director.
"We are doing a lot of new initiatives. We have invested more over the summer in our pre-academy to get all the local boys to join our pre-academy. We have also made a partnership with a local school so we'll have our most talented 14 year olds going into a full-time programme, this means we can now recruit players from all over England at the age of 14.
"We are doing some very strategic initiatives but again it is not a quick fix but it is something I am completely confident about that years from now we will be able to have a full squad list again with talented players coming through our academy."
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