# Stage 1: What should the club decide before contacting suppliers?


**Write the purchasing question in football terms, then translate it into evidence requirements.** FIFA’s Talent Identification Guide places football philosophy and player profiles before identification and selection. That is a useful starting principle, although FIFA does not prescribe the supplier-procurement process proposed here. ([fifatrainingcentre.com](https://www.fifatrainingcentre.com/en/environment/guide/high-performance/find/talent-identification-guide.php))

A suitable brief might read:

> We need to assess whether candidates for a wide-forward role repeatedly create useful off-ball options in our priority competitions. Our current process cannot answer this consistently. We will compare an additional dataset, a specialist assessment and the existing workflow before the renewal notice deadline.

Avoid briefs such as “find the best AI scouting platform”. They do not define what a successful purchase must accomplish.

### First-stage checklist

- [ ] Name the football decision: discovery, assessment, verification, integration or subscription consolidation.
- [ ] Specify the role, competitions, seasons and decision deadline.
- [ ] Identify the operational user, technical evaluator, budget owner and signatory.
- [ ] Record the renewal date **and the last date for giving notice**.
- [ ] Set a limit on evaluation hours and external expenditure.
- [ ] State what would justify buying nothing.
- [ ] Confirm permission before sharing contracts, shortlists, footage or licensed extracts.

Assign responsibilities explicitly rather than assuming job titles determine authority. As one illustration of cross-functional work—not evidence of a universal club structure—Nashville SC’s advertised Data Analyst role describes collaboration across the front office, scouting and recruitment, analysis, and high performance. ([analyticssportsjobs.com](https://analyticssportsjobs.com/jobs/data-analyst-nashville-soccer-club))

**Exit condition:** the sponsor can explain the decision, deadline and required improvement in two sentences.