SEVILLA Sporting Director Monchi says “Big Data is the future of football” and that engineers and physicists are more in demand than scouts.

WE’VE long known about the star player. Then there was the star manager. Now we have a new phenomenon - the star sporting director - and none comes bigger than Sevilla’s Ramón Rodríguez Verdejo - or Monchi. Now the 48-year-old says he has offers to come to the Premier League this summer.