How Ligue 1 clubs are using data to recruit | OneFootball

Data has moved into the heart of Ligue 1 recruitment, though its use varies from club to club. According to L'Équipe, analytics and AI are increasingly used to support, not supplant, traditional scouting.

Toulouse’s early success helped normalise the approach, even if the club has since tilted back towards more classic methods. Julien Demeaux, who helped build TFC’s system, says data should be a culture rather than a mere tool.

Elsewhere, Angers sporting director Laurent Boissier still relies on his network without data, while Lille proceed cautiously and Lens have joined in more recently. Auxerre hired former Marseille data scientist Salim Tabarani, and Nantes fold analytics into live and video scouting, personality checks and medicals, with visual assessment still decisive.

At Rennes, data complements the evaluation of athletic, technical and tactical profiles. Recruitment coordinator Aurélien Gaillard says the aim is to reduce risk, and numbers on Mahdi Camara helped underpin an 8 million euro move last summer.

Paris Saint-Germain set up a data department two and a half years ago, with seven staff around the first team and recruitment, and have invested in AI to assess character and reactions to coaching changes. Clubs use platforms such as WyScout, StatsBomb’s On-Ball Value, Skill Corner and Genius Sports, and some insiders say teams chase impossible profiles, so several are building bespoke models. Le Havre, owned by Blue Crow Sports Group led by Jeff Luhnow, use group software, but scepticism endures among sporting directors even as curiosity grows.

Source: L'Équipe