Lacking credible information

Japanese football is becoming increasingly international, with J-League teams able to sign as many foreign players as they wish (albeit a total of five can be named in a match-day squad).

But with that market freedom comes additional challenges for recruitment departments: accessing, and acting on, credible information.

Too often Urawa Reds were the subject of irrelevant pitches from agents who did not understand the club’s requirements.

Urawa Reds Technical Director, Tsutomu Nishino explains: “In the case of foreign players, we have lots of difficulties buying them because of the limitation of the information we have. Live scouting abroad is always difficult because our scouts have to watch as many matches as possible. It is very expensive and very time consuming. 

“Agents come to us with options but they have their own interests a lot of the time. As a club we have taken the decision that we want to be able to evaluate a player offered to us in-house. How can he improve our squad, our position in the J League? And our final decision has to be backed up always with data.”

Filter options fast

That is why TransferRoom has become a crucial tool for Nishino and his recruitment department.

The search function enables the club to quickly filter the player database for the correct profile of player, who they then run through their internal scouting processes.

Nishino adds: “It is great to be able to compare players and have some kind of evaluation before you begin the process of video and live scouting. Do these players fit our criteria? It’s about getting information fast. It has totally changed how our scouting department operates.

“We watch matches all over the world, and have all the necessary stats, video clips and player availability information all with the click of a button.”

He continues: “Through TransferRoom we communicate with clubs in Europe and around the world. This is very helpful to get information directly from clubs about a player’s availability, and cost. Previously this would involve relying on information from third parties. Now we get a clearer picture quickly.”