Arsenal to adopt 'Moneyball' transfer tactics as chief scout prepares to leave

Arsenal are set for a complete overhaul of their recruitment strategy less than eight weeks before the January transfer window is scheduled to open.

The Daily Mail understands that chief scout Steve Rowley is on the brink of leaving The Emirates after 35 years working with the north London outfit.

Rowley was installed as Arsenal's head of recruitment in 1996 by Arsene Wenger but has been blamed internally for a series of botched transfers which has assisted in the club's lack of competitiveness in recent years.

Scouting colleagues at rival clubs have been informed by Rowley that he has "had enough" at Arsenal and wants to move onto pastures new.

Should Rowley indeed depart then chief executive Ivan Gazidis is set to step into the breach and lead the club's attempt to bring in new players.

Gazidis has recently been criticised for receiving a bonus during last season totalling £919,000 and Arsenal fans will be keen to see the CEO justify that payment by bringing in some big-name signings to turnaround their season.

Another change to Arsenal's recruitment drive will see a greater onus places on the 'Moneyball' tactics which are used to influence Liverpool's transfer policy, when the club update their analytics operation.

The data-driven strategy was brought to Liverpool by owners Fenway Sports Group who used mathematics and statistics to identify new recruits with the Boston Red Sox.

FSG took charge of Liverpool in 2010 and though the practices have been heavily diluted as years have gone by, centrally due to the catastrophic failure of many new additions, it remains a reference point for Michael Edwards, the club's new sporting director.

It was a change in tact which Gazidis wanted to introduce in the summer in a modernisation of the way in which Arsenal operate in the transfer window, but Wenger's retention saw those plans scaled back.