Hearts’ use of Jamtestown Analytics is grabbing the headlines but Cormack says the Dons have been doing it for years nowDave Cormack

Dave Cormack insists Aberdeen are ahead of the game on analytics despite Hearts hogging the headlines.

The Jambos are one of a handful of clubs with access to Jamestown Analytics and have been boosted by a fresh £10million investment from Brighton owner and now Hearts shareholder Tony Bloom.

But Dons chief Cormack points to the player trading that’s been happening at Pittodrie for the last five or six years that is now allowing them to go out and spend more on players they are confident will only increase their transfer revenue in seasons to come.

Cormack has promised to plough a further £8million into Aberdeen along with director Tom Crotty, with the majority going towards a new indoor pitch at the club’s Cormack Park training centre.

The investment is needed given Cormack confirmed the conscious move by the club not to make sure the books are balanced: “We’re making a decision to lose £3m or £4m operationally a year as a club,” he said.

However, Cormack has full faith the club’s recruitment department to continue finding players that will provide a significan return when sold.

“We have got a squad planning and recruitment team in place now which I think will stand us in good stead,” he said. “Everyone is talking about these analytics and algorithms which everybody is using. But we have been using those for five or six years now. Miovski, Ramadani, a number of players, have come through that. We have tapped in to that.”

And Cormack expects Finnish winger Topi Keskinen to be the next big money exit from Pittodrie after dropping six figures on the wide man.

“There is a reason we have paid £1m for Topi,” he said. “Listen, in the last five years we have managed to sell just over £20m worth of players. That is significant income for us. The trick is balancing that with being competitive.

“Our scouting needs to be excellent so we can unearth and get value from players. But people want to come to Aberdeen now because they know they will get an opportunity to move on to a bigger club.”

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