Newcastle United have raided Man City once again to bring in Ciaran Hughes as the club's new lead video analyst.
Hughes, who was working as an analyst with City's elite development squad (EDS), is the latest new recruit to make the move from the Etihad after Paul Midgley joined the club as head of youth recruitment and Paul McLaren agreed to take up a role as head of national youth scouting. Although McLaren has been put on gardening leave by City, ChronicleLive understands Hughes has already started work at Newcastle ahead of a busy summer transfer window.
Hughes will work closely with Andy Howe, Newcastle's head of technical scouting, and be responsible for the club's seven new positional analysts, who will focus on specific positions within a designated geographical area rather than players in general. Among these new positional analysts are Graeme Tiffin, who has joined Newcastle from Middlesbrough, where he was a senior scout, and Josh Appleyard, who arrived from Norwich City. This approach will mirror the set-up at Brighton when sporting director Dan Ashworth was at the club.
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So what will Hughes do? Well, the lead video analyst will attend and contribute towards recruitment meetings and make recommendations on potential future signings with 'exceptional' attention to detail. Newcastle wanted a figure who had worked in elite football with experience as an analyst as well as someone who had an understanding and experience of player potential, including young emerging talent, and Hughes certainly fit the bill in that regard.
Hughes worked as a performance analyst with City's EDS, which is the club's reserve squad, after rising through the ranks in similar positions with the club's under-18s and under-16s. The new addition was also previously employed across the divide at Manchester United as a performance analyst with the Red Devils' under-18s.
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