Leeds United’s head of recruitment Jordan Miles will be engaged in the club’s summer transfer ambitions, and Leeds Live has looked at what he could bring.
It’s difficult to turn down Leeds United. Jordan Miles can tell you. Miles just joined Aberdeen last summer, but Leeds Live believes the club’s head of recruitment was ‘absolutely ecstatic’ about the transfer to Elland Road.
Miles, who is in his early thirties, is one of the youngest figures in football to play such an important role at a club of this stature. However, nothing is known about the talent scout beyond the brief 51-word statement Leeds published to announce his arrival back in February. Who better to provide insider information than Mick McCarthy, a boyhood Leeds supporter who previously hired Miles as his head of performance analysis at Ipswich Town in 2012.
“Jordan is very good at his job,” McCarthy told Leeds Live. “Very diligent. He does not only watch games on his laptop; he goes out and watches them. He has a great eye for footballers.
“He excelled for us at Ipswich in many areas. He participated in all of our team meetings. He was active in everything we discussed, including the game, strategy, tactics, and recruitment.
“He was incredibly structured and knew exactly what he was doing. He knew exactly what we were looking for and had his eye on it. He wasn’t merely led by us; he had an opinion, which we respected.
Miles not only served as McCarthy’s eye in the stands, combining match film and relaying his findings to former Ipswich manager and assistant Terry Connor at halftime, but he also helped with the Tractor Boys’ recruitment. McCarthy, who had ‘no notion’ about Miles when he took over Ipswich, quickly’realised his merits and how much he’s worth.
The Premier League soon beckoned. Miles joined West Ham United as a first-team performance analyst in 2016, before being promoted to head of recruiting analysis a year and a half later.
According to Leeds Live, Miles had a key role in West Ham’s acquisitions of Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal. The Czech Republic internationals, who were not well-known at the time, cost West Ham a combined £24.5 million from Slavia Prague and have since made 362 appearances for the club.
You can see why Miles gained the faith of former manager David Moyes. Jack Lamb-Wilson, Miles’ first-team performance analyst at West Ham, recalled how Moyes ‘highlighted Jordan as someone he liked and wanted to put into a recruitment job’.
“Jordan is very level-headed and a normal down to earth guy who doesn’t get carried away with his position,” he stated to Leeds Live. “Having worked in the Premier League for eight years, I’ve met a lot of people who overestimate their authority. Jordan does not do that. He’s accumulated a wealth of expertise from the ground up.”
That knowledge will undoubtedly be required in what is a critical summer window for Leeds. The Whites, of course, had no idea which league they’d be playing in until the end of May, but the club prepared for both eventualities, and a lot of work has been done in the weeks since it was confirmed that Daniel Farke’s team would be relegated to the Championship for another year. According to Farke, everything will be ‘absolutely ready’ when the new season begins.
Farke will lead the club’s recruiting and have the last word once more, but the Leeds manager will collaborate closely with CEO Angus Kinnear, technical director Gretar Steinsson, and influential consultant Nick Hammond, who played a key part in a chaotic window a year ago.
Miles, who has reinforced the club’s recruitment department with a number of scouting appointments, has integrated into the current system and was among those laying the groundwork before the window opened last week. When it comes to dealing with Farke and Co., a former colleague who did not want to be identified described Miles as a ‘collaborative’ operator who can’see how things fit together’. So, what can he bring to Leeds as a recruiter?
“Jordan’s knowledge was really good in terms of players out there, what’s happening with their careers and contracts, how they fit into a style of play and their performances,” he stated to Leeds Live. “He is constantly talking to people. He’s a really knowledgeable guy.
“He had a great eye and was eager to sign talented players, for sure. He would speak with the appropriate persons and consider their feedback. He would not only listen to anyone; he would get accurate facts about that person and double-check the character.
“He paid close attention to detail and ensured he understood what was going on. He was quite thorough. Leeds are fortunate to have him.”
