Globetrotting for Talent: Exploring the diversity in EFL clubs’ recruitment – data analysis

Talent ID and recruitment in football have evolved immensely in recent years and continue to do so at a rapid rate. We’ve seen Premier League teams expand their scouting boundaries, with clubs like Brighton being very successful in bringing relatively unknown players from areas such as South America; we’ve seen clubs in the EFL Championship evolving by dipping into different European markets to find unearthed young gems; and we’ve also teams in Leagues One and Two look to bring players in from around the world to try and give themselves an edge financially as well as on the pitch.

Currently, spanning across the Championship, League One, and League Two, there are 172 players that were signed from clubs outside of English football. This data analysis will uncover just how much every single club in those three divisions recruits in that regard, as well as looking at which nations seem to be of particular interest to English clubs.

In terms of criteria, there isn’t much. We’re looking at the current squads of every one of the 72 clubs, picking out any player who has been signed from a club outside of England – whether it’s a permanent deal or a loan transfer. Additionally, we’ve also included free agent signings if the player in question was last at a club outside of England. We realise that some of the free agents signed by clubs could have been signed for reasons other than their scouting department covering a certain nation, having a history playing in England prior to their move abroad, or the player having an existing relationship with the manager/the manager being aware of the player regardless of their time abroad – both are important aspects, but as it is impossible for us to know this information about every free agent signing, they’ve all been included in the statistics. In that regard, those free agents are included in the same boat as the rest of the players in the sense of being signed from outside of England.

Championship

Many have made the observation of the gap between the Championship and the Premier League and how it seemingly continues to grow, but from a recruitment standpoint, it’s arguable that England’s second tier is keeping a good pace in terms of scouting around the globe and bringing players in from various nations. 151 current Championship players were signed from outside of England, and unless you’ve kept a close eye on the recruitment within the division in recent years, there may be some surprises!

We start by breaking down each club’s activity in signing players from abroad, and some teams may not come as a shock. Watford having 11 players in their squad who were signed from other nations is a result of the clubs current state—ownership status, large turnover of managers and players; they’ve had to adapt constantly, and that involves recruiting from other clubs around the continent and clubs that the owner has relationships with.

Leicester also have a high number of players from leagues outside of England (nine), but this can be somewhat expected, as the club was a Premier League mainstay before its relegation last season. Norwich has a high count for similar reasons—being either a top-end Championship club or a Premier League club, more often than not, has resulted in this.

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