The Sleeping Giant

Toulouse FC went from Ligue 2 to beating Liverpool in Europe. How? By trusting the data – wherever it led.

Scouting, recruitment and analysis are the bedrock of modern football. From Brighton to Arsenal to Union Saint-Gilloise, data-led institutions are redefining what it means to compete.

From the numbers come stories. Stories of triumph and heartbreak, of loss and glory, of tinkerers and craftsmen and artists. These are the people sculpting football’s future - and these are their tales.

This week, writer

Billy Carpenter

walks us through the remarkable rise of the youngest team in Europe.

Branco van den Boomen wasn’t overly romantic when asked why Toulouse FC decided to sign him from De Graafschap in the second tier of Dutch football.

“They entered the profile of the player they were looking for into the computer," the midfielder explained. “And my name came up on the list.”

If it weren’t for his age — he was 25 by the time he played in France — Van den Boomen would be the perfect encapsulation of the rebirth in Toulouse. The skilled (if underestimated) midfielder was identified and swooped for by a meticulous data organisation after producing for an overlooked lower-tier side. He was secured for Todd Boehly’s average weekly bill at the steakhouse (€350k), then unleashed upon unsuspecting competitors in France.

By his second season, Van den Boomen was the Kevin de Bruyne of Ligue 2. This is not said without evidence. He collected 12 goals and 21 (!) assists, the latter being a league record. The club secured automatic promotion back to the top tier in 21-22.

For his next act, he helped Toulouse secure the 106th Coupe de France in a 5-1 shellacking of Nantes. He made an assist from one of his trademark nasty corners, added nine passes into the final third and seven recoveries, all without being dispossessed a single time. Celebrations ensued.

Now with Ajax, the player in question is enduring a, uh, strange year. For the purposes of this piece, that’s fine. We’re not here to talk about him.

We’re here to talk about the rise of the youngest team in Europe.