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Manchester City-PSG: Kevin De Bruyne, the man who negotiates his contracts alone thanks to data

2021-05-04T17:03:35.457Z


An exceptional player, the Manchester City captain is also a visionary businessman. In early April, he negotiated an extension re


It would look like a somewhat futile game between supporters.

One would ask what percentage chance Manchester City has of winning their first Champions League if they no longer have Kevin De Bruyne in their ranks.

Another one, with which other team the Belgian has the greatest probability of lifting the continental trophy.

And what would that percentage be exactly.

At first glance, these riddles thrown around do not call for any exact answer.

Who can bet on the future in such a clear-cut way?

Yet here is what two London companies had to think about for several months at the request of the very serious playing master of the Citizens.

Determining in the semi-final victorious first leg against PSG (1-2), Kevin De Bruyne signed on April 7 a two-year contract extension, until 2025, with the English club.

A signature tied without any agent to represent its interests, but thanks, among other things, to the work of Analytics FC and StatsBomb, two pundits of statistical data analysis.

The story continues!

💙 # KDB2025 pic.twitter.com/MgShNY30Hh

- Kevin De Bruyne (@DeBruyneKev) April 7, 2021

The entry of “big data” and algorithms into top-level football is nothing new in itself.

Born in the heart of American sports, as the film "The Strategist" with Brad Pitt recounted in 2011, the revolution has been exported to Europe for the past ten years.

Only, we used to hear about it until now when a coach justified his tactical vision, or the direction his summer recruitment.

That this data mixed and remixed with the mill of the waiters help a footballer to objectify its sporting value, and to weigh in the financial negotiations, turns out to be much rarer.

First a painful divorce from his agent

Was this project on De Bruyne's mind for a long time?

Hard to say.

The click goes back in any case to December 2019. Or rather should we say the trauma.

At the time, the entourage of the Red Devil, and in particular his father, filed a complaint against Patrick de Koster, the man who has managed the interests of the son since he was sixteen.

The agent would have failed in his duties of transparency vis-Ă -vis commissions affected during his transfer from Chelsea to Wolfsburg in 2014. The divorce is sealed.

And head for the courts for the intermediary.

Read alsoHow football and rugby entered the data age

The number 17 of the Citizens, elected best player in the Premier League that season, could then have secured the services of the greatest.

Pini Zahavi, very close to PSG shopping, or Federico Pastorello make him the serpent dance in particular.

Only he now wants to negotiate live.

No more agents and their commissions.

A visibly winning strategy since De Bruyne has become the highest paid player in the history of the Premier League, with at least 350,000 euros in salary per week.

In detail, he kept his two Belgian lawyers, those with whom they have been securing the legal and tax parties since 2015.

But for the sporting aspect, room has been made on the table to accommodate a large pile of encrypted data highlighting his influence within Pep Guardiola's team.

"Show, with supporting evidence, that what he demands is deserved"

In these files, we find a whole bunch of formulas and tools such as “expected goals” or “assists”.

Thousands of data brewed match after match to try to understand how decisive a player is for his team, compatible with his partners, psychologically solid etc.

At the same time as this mathematical-sports analysis, De Bruyne asked to assess its rating on the market.

And how much were the other cracks of his rank, such as his compatriot Eden Hazard at Real Madrid.

"I have the feeling that these studies were not at the heart of the negotiations but they allowed Kevin to show, with supporting facts, that what he demands is deserved," says his lawyer Sven Demeulemeester.

He and his client had also refused a first offer in early January.

Aware that data analysis is still a "beginner science" and that each figure can lead to different interpretations, even to misinterpretations, Me Demeulemeester specifies having surveyed two companies to obtain the most objective possible inventory.

Kevin De Bruyne was decisive in the second half against PSG by scoring the equalizing goal.

LP / Arnaud Journois

This practice symbolizes the hold of data throughout the ecosystem.

“We have already worked with players who have done this to understand their game or to promote themselves to clubs - it becomes more and more important as the clubs themselves become more and more sophisticated in the way they take decisions. decisions ”, testifies for example Omar Chaudhuri, data analyst within the London company 21st club.

"The danger of the figure for the figure"

Gilles Grimandi, former professional player converted as a recruiter at Arsenal and then sporting director in 2019 of OGC Nice, calls however to “frame what we are looking for”. At the risk in particular that big data vampirizes the instinct of footballers. “Everyone uses it now, but without knowing how to use it and interpret it properly. On the one hand, it reassures people who invest. And on the other hand, it clears all those responsible, who can say, in case of failure, that they had the figures with them. However, the truth of the matter changes from one period to another, or from one championship to another. This is the danger of the figure for the figure. "For him, the key," is to adapt the criteria to the philosophy of the coach and his direction ".

If the specific case of De Bruyne illustrates the rise of a new trend, this should not be seen as the imminent disappearance of the agent profession. “An ultra-coveted player like De Bruyne can handle it on his own. A third division guy looking for a club, much less, attests Loïc Ravenel, researcher at the International Center for Sports Studies (CIES) based in Switzerland. The profession is very often rightly criticized through a whole host of abuses, but they are necessary for many. Most need to focus on the ground and lack the necessary knowledge of networks. At some point, you need entries to call a recruiter you know. It's a bit like a real estate agent after all. It has this role of buffer to fluidify the market. "

"If De Bruyne had been 23 and things were going badly at City, not sure he would have made the same choices," notes Gilles Grimandi. This winter, the Belgian wanted to extend the adventure and continue to embody the game project of Pep Guardiola. The statistics he ordered have also proved him right: only Bayern Munich had so many statistical chances to offer him the Cup with big ears. A percentage evaluated at 20%, with three points behind, its direct competitor on Tuesday night, Paris Saint-Germain.

Source: leparis

All sports articles on 2021-05-04

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