Everton are set to add a Scandinavia scout as Kevin Thelwell continues to update and improve the club’s scouting network.
Last month the club announced it was activity recruiting for a scout to focus on Portugal, Italy and Spain and it has already employed Portsmouth Head of Recruitment Phil Boardman as senior scout in Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.
Head of Scouting Operations Lee Sargeson, who reports in to Director of Football Kevin Thelwell, is now adding a Scandinavian scout to the team in a job listing posted last week on the club website. It says:
“Essentially, we are looking for a confident individual with excellent communication skills and has experience within talent identification. This role will provide opportunity to operate at the forefront of the talent identification process at the Club and support an exciting future for our football club. ”
While focused on Scandinavia it will also mean travel to Finch Farm with the rest of the recruitment team, the club says.
The focus on Scandinavia could be a money-saver for Everton as players can often cost less from leagues in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. Players such as Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard, as well as Alexander Isak have proven the region has plenty of talented footballers.
Everton’s own Jesper Lindstrom is a Danish international and moved from Brondby to Eintracht Frankfurt for just £6m before then arriving at Napoli for a much larger fee of around £25m.
Other notable Scandinavian players to play for Everton include 1995 FA Cup winner Anders Limpar, a Swedish international, and Denmark’s Thomas Gravesen, who left Everton in a shock move to Real Madrid in 2003.
The news of the new scout recruitment is a further hint that Kevin Thelwell is transforming the backroom staff at the club even as the first team struggles. The youth academy and recruitment at lower age groups has seen a complete overhaul and several exciting youngsters have arrived at the club under the strategy of new Head of Recruitment James Vaughan. Meanwhile, the club’s main scouting structure has been revamped and Everton are seemingly now casting their net across Europe in order to gain an advantage.