Arsenal are ready to lead football into a new technological era, according to their IT director, Christelle Heikkila.
While Unai Emery and his squad prepare for the Europa League final against Chelsea later this month, Heikkila and her team in north London continue to strive for marginal gains which keep the club at the forefront of the Premier League’s technological arms race.
Top clubs across Europe are beginning to embrace technology in every single department, from tracking players and their data across the globe to working on facial recognition systems to make stadiums safer and more advanced than ever.
Firms and clubs are already working towards doing away with a physical season tickets, with your face enough to get you through the gate in the near future.
On the pitch is where it matters to fans, and while managers may have to fight for a transfer kitty, Premier League directors are increasingly keen to invest in any technology to take them forward, but there is still a long way to go.
"Computers are now doing things people in the past could have only dreamt of," Heikkila told Standard Sport.
"We are now able to collate disparate sources of data and find patters, relationships in that data. We have huge computing power and we now have sophisticated algorithms.
"All of those things are coming together and making technology hugely powerful right now, my view is that the technology is available, where is the dream? Football needs to be ready to take hold of it."
Speaking before addressing partners Acronis, who work alongside Arsenal and Manchester City in enhancing their technological potential, Heikkila added: "Are Arsenal at the forefront? I would like to think on the football side yes, especially.
"For example the use of data to enhance our on-field performance is so important and I would say we’re really advanced in that area. There are certain areas of technology where we are quite leading edge.
"IT touches every single function at Arsenal. Think about the team that surrounds the players, everything from doctors to physios, scouts and analysts, IT touches all of that. Those functions are always looking for ways to improve what they do and exploit technology."
