Jambos have high hopes ahead of the January window and beyond
Andrew McKinlay has noted with interest what Brighton & Hove Albion have achieved in the transfer market in recent seasons and the Hearts chief executive would love to bring the model to Tynecastle.
The Gorgie club’s tie-in with Tony Bloom’s football data analysis firm Jamestown Analytics has opened the door to exciting possibilities, allowing them access to the renowned recruitment information that has underpinned the success of not only Brighton but also Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise and Italy’s Como.
Brighton has a strong scouting network that identifies undervalued talent from smaller markets and in May the south-coast club announced the biggest annual profit in the English Premier League’s history: £122.8 million for the year ending June 30, 2023.
Brighton have made major profits on players such as Marc Cucurella, currently at Chelsea.Brighton have made major profits on players such as Marc Cucurella, currently at Chelsea.
Brighton have made major profits on players such as Marc Cucurella, currently at Chelsea. | Getty Images
Brighton made startling amounts by selling the likes of Moisés Caicedo and Marc Cucurella to Chelsea, Alexis Mac Allister to Liverpool, Leandro Trossard to Arsenal and Yves Bissouma to Tottenham. While those players generated transfer fees that Hearts can only dream of, McKinlay believes the method is within their grasp. The ability to buy low and sell high is the holy grail of the football transfer market for aspiring clubs and the Hearts CEO knows it could be crucial to making his club credible challengers to Celtic and Rangers, his stated aim.
“It's something that Brighton have been very adept at,” said McKinlay. “There are two bits to the player trading model. One is bringing through better academy players and the other is bringing in players that have a value and are good for us while they're here but also that we can look to sell on and make money. The Jamestown bit is a crucial part of the whole trading philosophy, it's a crucial part of us getting that player trading model working better than it has done in the past.”
In terms of practicalities, McKinlay does not expect the method to differ too much from current practices. Neil Critchley, the new Hearts head coach, will work alongside Graeme Jones, the recently appointed sporting director who liaises with Jamestown Analytics.
“It's quite similar to the workflow in the past, it's just with different people,” explained McKinlay. “So Neil sits down with Graeme in the main and they'll look at positions. Graeme is already liaising with Jamestown on a number of things, so he's building up a really close relationship. There's one particular guy, Justin Said, who's their MD and he's our main contact at Jamestown. So they work very closely and what then happens is, let's say we say we're looking for a right-back, they'll then come back with a list, and the manager will be key in saying the type of right back we want.
Hearts chief executive Andrew McKinlay.Hearts chief executive Andrew McKinlay.
Hearts chief executive Andrew McKinlay. | SNS Group
“They understand our budgets and they'll then go away and hopefully come back with maybe four or five realistic ones, which then goes back to the manager and his team to look at.
“Jamestown won't give you anything on the character of the individual, so it's still our job to understand, what's that individual's character. Will they fit in with the culture of the team? In many ways, that's still going to be the harder bit, and even then when someone moves to Edinburgh, and we've seen it in the past, they might struggle to settle. So it's not a perfect system, but that's roughly the way it will work.”