Brighton & Hove Albion owner-chairman Tony Bloom is in negotiations with Scottish Premiership club Hearts about a £10million investment deal to overhaul the way the Edinburgh-based side recruit players and managers.
Starlizard, Bloom’s London-based sports analytics company, would call the shots on recruitment, with the prospect of Bloom taking a minority stake in Hearts if the model is successful.
The Athletic explains why it is happening, how it would work, and what is in it for both parties…
What is the plan?
Starlizard will invest around £10million ($13m) to buy players for Hearts using their data-based model, with a view to increasing the value of those players and then selling them on for a profit.
It would be similar, but on a smaller scale, to Bloom’s data-led algorithm that has been so successful for Brighton. They spent nearly £200million on nine signings in this summer’s transfer window — a figure exceeded globally only by fellow Premier League club Chelsea.
That splurge was powered by a £137.5million profit on player trading in the transfer windows across the previous two seasons, including the sales of star performers such as Moises Caicedo to Chelsea and Alexis Mac Allister to Liverpool.
Is it a done deal?
Nothing is signed yet.
Talks are ongoing between Bloom, Hearts’ chair Ann Budge and their respective representatives, and they have spoken to the Scottish FA about the plan.
Starlizard has presented a dossier to Hearts’ board of directors with its thoughts on the current squad and potential changes. One of the aims will be to bring down the average age of the squad at Tynecastle and inject more energy.
What’s in it for Hearts?
They will not be identifying the players or spending the money, but they will benefit from improved talent levels on the pitch. Under the terms of the mooted arrangement, Bloom would take his share of the profits but Hearts will have money to reinvest. It is a deal-breaker for them if there is no agreement on that last point.
What’s in it for Bloom?
Bloom could seek to gain a minority stake in Hearts within the next two years if Starlizard’s methods pay off. That would have to be sanctioned at the appropriate time by members of the Foundation of Hearts (FoH), the fan group that owns the club, with 90 per cent support needed from more than 8,000 members.
FoH is the majority shareholder at Hearts, on behalf of their fellow supporters.
The proposed Starlizard deal does not require FoH approval, since it is based only on the company providing Hearts with specialised analysis technology.
Bloom has owned Brighton since 2009, and they have been in the Premier League since summer 2017 (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
What would it mean for Brighton?
The short and sweet answer is: not much.
This is purely a business arrangement between Bloom and Hearts. The Edinburgh side deal in much smaller financial numbers than Brighton on player trading, as the transfer market in Scotland operates at a much lower level than the one in England. There would be no trading link between the two clubs.
Isn’t Bloom already a minority shareholder in another club?
Yes, Union Saint-Gilloise in Belgium. He bought the Brussels club in 2018 with close friend and business associate Alex Muzio. Bloom reduced his stake to 25 per cent last summer to comply with UEFA regulations after Brighton and Union qualified via their domestic league campaigns to play in the 2023-24 Europa League.
Why Hearts?
Bloom likes upsetting the odds. He has done that against bigger clubs already with Brighton and Union.
Glasgow sides Celtic and Rangers have dominated Scottish football for years. Hearts are propping up the Premiership with one point from the first five games of the domestic season under head coach Steven Naismith, but they are competing in Europe (in the Conference League) for the third season in succession, via top-four finishes in the league.
They have a rich history, too, winning four titles (the most recent in 1959-60), eight Scottish FA Cup finals and four Scottish League Cups, and reaching the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup (today’s Europa League) in 1988-89, when they lost 2-1 on aggregate to Bayern Munich.
Brighton already have a good relationship with Hearts, having loaned them left-back Alex Cochrane in the summer of 2021 before the deal became permanent 12 months later (Cochrane moved on to Birmingham City of League One, England’s third tier, this June) and loaned right-back Odel Offiah to them for 2023-24. Offiah is now on loan to another English League One club, Blackpool.
There is another link to Hearts: David Weir was Brighton’s loans manager when Cochrane made his move to Tynecastle. The former Hearts and Scotland defender has been the Premier League club’s technical director since 2022.
What about Hibernian?
The Edinburgh rivals of Hearts accepted a £6million investment in February from Premier League club Bournemouth’s chairman Bill Foley and the Black Knight group for a 25 per cent stake.
Hibernian, widely known as Hibs, announced a strategic partnership with Brighton in 2021, based on player development at both clubs. It never really got off the ground as Brighton’s technical director at the time, Dan Ashworth, a key figure in the deal, resigned a few months later to join Newcastle United. Ashworth is now the sporting director of Manchester United.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
