Southampton is set to become the first Premier League club to sign an academy player using the Tonsser app. The players were not hand-picked by Southampton’s scouting network. Instead, they were recognized using an app. Tonsser, the world’s largest football player app, is now available in English football and is utilized by over one million young people in France alone. Players create their own player profiles, capturing their performances using analytics and video, including goals and assist, and voting for the best performers after each match. Over time, an image of the user group’s most powerful players emerges. It is paving the way for a career.
Tonsser, which was founded in Denmark in 2014, has seen its greatest success in France, where the majority of its 1.6 million members reside. Tonsser United, a team made up of unsigned youth players chosen through the app, drew with Paris Saint-Germain’s U15 team in 2021. They won against Fulham, Rennes, and Lille. It demonstrated Tonsser’s aptitude to spot high-potential players. Southampton is an obvious partner. Sport Republic owns 80% of the club and has since invested in Tonsser. Rasmus Ankersen, CEO of Sport Republic and director of football at Southampton, is an enthusiastic supporter of innovation and believes Tonsser has the potential to create “the world’s largest feeder club.”
He is not by himself. Matthew Benham, the owner of Brentford, is now an investor. Christian Norgaard, a midfielder for the Bees, is also involved. Those in football understand instinctively that the line between a multi-million-pound asset and a kid on the playground may be razor-thin. Young players require different opportunities. Nonetheless, it requires a leap of faith to think that an app powered by its users can deliver knowledge that traditional scouting cannot. However, this is a numbers game. The wisdom of the multitude can triumph. Furthermore, the Saints are emphasizing that this is an addition, not a replacement.
“It is an opportunity for us to discover players that may have gone unnoticed due to our current scouting framework,” Gareth Hamer, recruitment manager at Southampton said. “It is understandable that you would have missed some players. The traditional method of live scouting involves simply one scout attending one game per weekend. Even if you multiply that by a hundred, you will not be spotted if the scout is not in your postcode or at your game. This is a method of placing all of that information in our hands rather than depending on someone being present. That, I suppose, is the power of social media. Even though the game has grown in size, everything is lot closer now. It might literally be in the palm of your hand.”
In rare circumstances, as much as 40% of the players have been signed. PSG and Caen both signed players during the recent Paris showcase. Then there’s Alexis Kabamba, who played for Tonsser United before winning the European U17 Championship with France last year. In Germany, a Tonsser Undiscovered trial resulted to the signing of Merlin Rohl, an amateur player who had been using the app to track his numbers in Berlin’s fourth division. In August, he transferred to Freiburg for €3 million, becoming a Germany U20 international.
Tonsser is confident that, with their concept validated, this is just the beginning for them in the richest market of them all, with plans for a larger event in England later this year including other teams. Everyone believes that talent exists. It’s just waiting to be discovered.
“Good players are aware of other good players. Of course, there will always be bias. Because you are my friend, you should vote for me, and I will vote for you. That is unavoidable. However, the community corrects itself,” Hamer added. “They will claim that this winger or that left-back is the fastest player they have ever seen. That will help us because we will be able to utilise the community. Where else can you get something like that? We have statistics for 18-year-old athletes, but finding data for younger players is difficult. You will have access to it.”
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