Former Barcelona Head of Analytics joins Chelsea as Director of Data Science

Chelsea have been focusing on beefing up their data science capabilities since the takeover by Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly in May 2022.  Speaking in October 2022, Clearlake Managing Partner Behdad Eghbali said: “We’ve looked at it and we think European sports is probably 20 years behind US sports in terms of sophistication on the commercial side, sophistication on the data side. 

“I had one super high-level Sporting Director at (one of) the world’s top three clubs tell me, when I asked about their approach to data, ‘The data’s my eyes, I pick players on my eyes.’

“He has six scouts, no data. We know of good sports teams in any league here (the United States), there’s 10, 20, 30 data analysts and wide use of data. That’s one area we think there’s a lot of runway for European sports.”

In November, they appointed Sachin Gupta as their first Chief Analytics Officer to lead development of their data science capabilities. The American had previously worked for the Minnesota Timberwolves since July 2019 and had been their Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations since 2021.

Fernandez is another heavyweight appointment. He is well known to the data science community in the UK, having appeared on the Friends of Tracking YouTube channel, as the author of several research papers and as a speaker at analytics conferences.  

The Venezuelan has a background in high-scale software development and the application of Artificial Intelligence in multi-sensor data. At Barcelona, his main focus was providing data-oriented tools to help the club’s analysts answer complex questions on individual and team performance.

Writing on LinkedIn, he said: “Last month marked my final day at Zelus Analytics/ Teamworks, wrapping up 3+ years of an incredible journey. Working alongside some of the sharpest minds in sports analytics was truly transformative. 

“It’s remarkable how much you can learn just by being immersed in a highly creative environment and surrounded by brilliant people (is that osmosis?)

“At Zelus, we pushed the boundaries of sports analytics across soccer, basketball, and American football. I’m grateful to have contributed to innovative work and to have been part of such a special team.

“I’ll always cherish my time at Zelus as I join Chelsea FC as Director of Data Science. Excited for the journey ahead!”