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The Book of Scouting – Volume One

The Architect’s Blueprint for Evidence-Based Recruitment

Modern football has reached a crossroads where traditional scouting and data science must either merge or fail. This 500-page professional manual introduces the Four Worlds of Evaluation to replace haphazard guesswork with a rigorous decision-making architecture.

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Secure the Architect’s Blueprint for Modern Scouting

The Book of Scouting Volume One is available globally in both Premium Hardcover and Paper Back editions. Choose your local region below to ensure the fastest delivery, local currency pricing, and regional shipping rates.

About the Book

The core idea

In elite football recruitment, the human eye remains irreplaceable, yet isolated intuition creates the “Intuition Trap.” This book upgrades instinct with objective evidence and moves clubs from guessing to knowing.

A Complete Manual for the Modern Club

A 500-page blueprint for evaluating players with greater precision, structuring recruitment departments, and integrating Artificial Intelligence without losing the value of human judgment.

Asking the Right Questions

  • Where does the player function best?
  • Why does that specific environment work?
  • What protects performance and what exposes weakness?
  • What changes if the tactical context changes?
“A transfer is merely a transaction; a decision is a process. Anyone can buy a player. Only a leader can build a structure that identifies, validates, and secures the right player.”

The Four Worlds of Evaluation

  • Data Intelligence: normalize performance and reduce bias.
  • Video Analysis: provide contextual and tactical clarity.
  • Live Scouting: observe realities only live football reveals.
  • Context: understand fit, psychology, and hidden success factors.

Artificial Intelligence acts as the accelerator, translator, and control layer across all four worlds.

The Decision Architecture

This is not just a book about transfers. It is a book about decisions, structures, better questions, and better leadership.

Who Is This Book For?

The Professional, The Future Industry Leader, and The Modern Football Fan seeking structure over luck.

Inside the Book

The complete framework of modern scouting, from core philosophy to advanced technical structures.

Part I: The Foundations of Scouting

Modern standards, the four worlds, context, human factors, and navigating bias.

Part II: Seeing the Game Differently

Behaviours over actions, tempo and space, role-based scouting, and pattern recognition.

Part III: The Structure Around Scouting

Data & AI alliances, youth development, pathways, and high-impact decision-making.

Part IV: The Future of Scouting

Loan departments, succession planning, and leadership across technical teams.

Part V: Worldwide Contributors

Exclusive insights from owners, directors, scouts, coaches, agents, and media.

Technical Appendices

Department structure, AI systems, checklists, templates, pathways, and glossary (A–Z).

Worldwide Contributors

30 Global Icons: Life Experiences from the Front Lines

Owners & Executive Leaders

Andrea Radrizzani portrait

Andrea Radrizzani (Italy)
“Long-term success starts at home.”

Isitan Gun portrait

Isitan Gun (The Netherlands)
“Data and contextual scouting play a critical role in transfers.”

Matteo Campodonico portrait

Matteo Campodonico (Italy)
“Having a good eye is no longer enough in scouting.”

Philip Jackson portrait

Philip Jackson (Australia)
“The critical skill in analysis is the ability to identify what actually matters.”

Sporting & Football Directors

Andre Zanotta portrait

Andre Zanotta (USA)
“Sustainable player development does not happen by accident.”

Barry Simmonds portrait

Barry Simmonds (UK)
“Strong data supports a positive human judgement.”

Bruno Costa portrait

Bruno Costa (Brazil)
“In a modern club, recruitment must be integrated with Performance and Player Care.”

Ceyhun Kazanci portrait

Ceyhun Kazanci (Türkiye)
“AI has assumed a central role across all dimensions of football.”

Dr. Erkut Sogut portrait

Dr. Erkut Sogut (USA)
“The future belongs to professionals who can operate across disciplines.”

Dr. Mustafa Erogut portrait

Dr. Mustafa Erogut (Türkiye)
“If a country wants a football identity, it must invest collectively in the pathway.”

Fuat Capa portrait

Fuat Capa (Türkiye)
“Rationality remains essential, but without contextual awareness, it becomes incomplete.”

Les Reed portrait

Les Reed (UK)
“Structure and accountability matter, but recruitment success is built on teamwork.”

Nicola Innocentin portrait

Nicola Innocentin (Italy)
“Transfer decision-makers need a mindset of continuous learning and humility.”

Steven Vanharen portrait

Steven Vanharen (Hungary)
“Multi-club collaboration accelerates improvement without forcing uniformity.”

Chief Scouts & Heads of Recruitment

Dehan Ogetbil portrait

Dehan Ogetbil (Belgium)
“Scouting is not only identifying talent; it is predicting where that talent will live best.”

Eduardo Henrique Chavare portrait

Eduardo Henrique Chavare (Brazil)
“When scouting is aligned with game model and staff methodology, continuity is created.”

Fernando Matos portrait

Fernando Matos (Portugal)
“Good professionals know how to wait, revisit, and doubt initial conclusions.”

Jahid Asgarov portrait

Jahid Asgarov (Azerbaijan)
“A good scout should always be ready to support his ‘eye’ with relevant analytics.”

Jiro Kitahara portrait

Jiro Kitahara (Japan)
“Developing players as individuals requires strong communication and dialogue skills.”

Riccardo Polacco portrait

Riccardo Polacco (France)
“A solid data background helps to properly interpret what the numbers are really saying.”

Coaches

Marco Pedroso portrait

Marco Pedroso (Portugal)
“Successful squad building depends on all departments working in balance.”

Jessica Silva portrait

Jessica Silva (Canada)
“Successful transfers require human fit to be as strong as tactical fit.”

Peter Cklamovski portrait

Peter Cklamovski (Malaysia)
“The best recruitment decisions come when data, observation, and human insight align.”

Rudi Verkempinck portrait

Rudi Verkempinck (Belgium)
“Be ready, as AI will soon take over many tasks that recruitment analysts do today.”

Player Agencies

Hunor Dudas portrait

Hunor Dudas (Hungary)
“Scouting must function as an institution, not a personality-driven effort.”

Mark Coonen portrait

Mark Coonen (The Netherlands)
“Players with high learning speed and adaptability pass through barriers where others stagnate.”

Omer Koray Uzun portrait

Omer Koray Uzun (Türkiye)
“The agent, as an orchestra conductor, will always continue to play a central role in transfers.”

International Media

Christopher Beesley portrait

Christopher Beesley (UK)
“When deployed intelligently, AI can help football recruitment become far more efficient.”

David Novo portrait

David Novo (Portugal)
“Success depends on the ability to filter information and understand it rigorously.”

Emanuel Rosu portrait

Emanuel Rosu (Romania)
“Scouting is clarity, objective thinking, emotional control, and constant observation.”

Miguel Angel Garcia portrait

Miguel Angel Garcia (Spain)
“Without real football knowledge, data cannot be applied correctly to identify right needs.”

Vasilis Sambrakos portrait

Vasilis Sambrakos (Greece)
“AI shifts observation from instinct to evidence-based, objective decision-making.”

Testimonials

Voices from the Global Front Lines

Dr. Mustafa Erogut

Former Vice President, Turkish Football Federation | Former Vice President, İstanbul Başakşehir FK

“Thanks to Tarkan Batgun for his contribution to football academies and football literature. This book is something one of a kind.”

The Perspective: One of the most respected football leaders in Türkiye, with extensive experience in club leadership, federation management, and institutional planning.

Watch Video Testimonial

Riccardo Polacco

Chief Scout, Olympique de Marseille

“Scouting is a special world. Continuous evolution exists. The Book of Scouting covers all this and I am glad to be part of it. Scouts like us, but also football experts, managers, agencies, and club executives should read it.”

The Perspective: One of the brightest young scouting leaders in European football, Riccardo’s journey across Italy, England, and France reflects the rapid evolution of the modern game. At Olympique de Marseille, he represents a new generation of scouts who combine live observation, video analysis, and data intelligence with long-term strategic thinking.

Watch Video Testimonial

Steven Vanharen

Sporting & Technical Director, ETO FC Győr

“I am very happy to be in The Book of Scouting Volume One. The author, Tarkan Batgun, bundled his expertise but also the knowledge of experts around him in one book. I think people in scouting and recruitment should read the book.”

The Perspective: Steven Vanharen, Sporting & Technical Director of ETO FC Győr, offers a rare view of how successful football organizations are built through culture, structure, and long-term football planning.

Watch Video Testimonial

Jiro Kitahara

Head of Scouting & Methodology, FC Tokyo

“Scouting is the most important element in football. We can learn a lot from The Book of Scouting.”

The Perspective: A key figure behind FC Tokyo methodology at the intersection of academy structure and first-team planning.

Watch Video Testimonial

Mark Coonen

International Player Agent | Former Recruiter, PEC Zwolle

“I am really happy to be part of The Book of Scouting Volume One. This book is amazing. It is about the author's life. If you really want to learn about scouting and how player transfers are done, you must read this book.”

The Perspective: Mark offers a rare perspective from both sides of the negotiation table. Having worked in club recruitment and player representation, he understands the balance between talent evaluation and finding the environment where a player can grow and succeed.

Watch Video Testimonial

Media & Events

Global Book Launches: Establishing an International Standard

Asian Launch: Baku, Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan Football Conference | June 6–7, 2026

The official Asian launch brings the Four Worlds of Evaluation to Baku, focusing on AI and decision architecture within federations and emerging leagues.

European Launch: Budapest, Hungary

Hungarian Football Forum | 2026

Launch on 21st April 2026 at Puskas Stadium focused on scouting standardization and multi-club collaboration.

Watch Event Summary

Türkiye Launch: Istanbul

Acıbadem Sports | 2026

Hosted at the FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence at Acibadem Sports on 18th April 2026, focused on sports science and data intelligence.

Watch Event Summary

Americas & Beyond

Coming Soon

Planned launches across the United States and other key football markets, focused on Western market challenges and global pathway evolution.

Media Resources & Speaking

Tarkan Batgun is available for international keynotes, moderation and technical workshops.

  • Press Kit: High-resolution covers, author headshots, and executive summaries.
  • Speaking inquiries: Please use the Contact section for all media and speaking requests.

About the Author

Tarkan Batgun: Building Football’s Decision Architecture

For Tarkan Batgun, scouting was never only about identifying talent. It has always been about building systems that reduce error, protect clubs from emotional decision-making, and create sustainable competitive advantage.

A Pioneer in the Field

Founder and CEO of Comparisonator, Tarkan is widely recognized for institutionalizing modern scouting concepts and building AI-powered recruitment structures.

Bridging Education and Industry

Board-level and academic experience includes Altınordu FK and over a decade teaching Performance Analysis, with federation-level course architecture since 2010.

Global Consultant

Over 15 years consulting sports technology firms including Wyscout, SoccerLab, and Sportstec Australia (Hudl), plus leading the NIKE Türkiye Scouting Team between 2014 and 2021.

Academic and Media Presence

With backgrounds in Econometrics and Computer Programming, plus MBA studies, he is a frequent keynote speaker and respected media analyst known for evidence-based football discourse.

Contact

Connect with the Decision Architecture Team

Speaking & Engagements

For keynote speaking, expert moderation and technical workshops on AI in football and recruitment architecture.

info@comparisonator.com

Institutional Inquiries

For clubs, federations, or agencies interested in bulk orders or consulting services.

info@comparisonator.com

Media & General Questions

For interview requests, press kit access, and general questions about the book.

info@comparisonator.com

Collaborators

The Ecosystem Behind the Book

Comparisonator

The AI-powered data architecture and benchmarking infrastructure that forms the core of the manual’s evidence-based methodology.

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The Football Week

Official publishing partner responsible for global distribution and editorial excellence.

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Acıbadem Sports Academy

Launch Sponsor: Türkiye. Hosted the inaugural launch connecting elite sports science with modern recruitment.

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Football Forum Hungary

Book Launch Sponsor: Europe. Platform for the European debut and leadership engagement.

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Football Conference Baku

Book Launch Sponsor: Asia. Host of the official Asian launch for the Four Worlds architecture.

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Free Sample

Experience the Framework: Download the First Chapter

Download a digital preview of The Book of Scouting Volume One and explore the introduction, first chapter, table of contents, and Global Council preview.

Download the Free Sample (PDF)

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Media Kit & Press Assets

Welcome to the official media resource center for The Book of Scouting – Volume One. This kit is designed for journalists, broadcasters, and event organizers.

Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Tarkan Batgun. The Book of Scouting Volume One: The Architect’s Blueprint for Evidence-Based Recruitment.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission from the author.

Contact: info@comparisonator.com