Manchester City have employed several rocket scientists as they seek to gain an advantage on their rivals.
The former astrophysicist and Treasury policy adviser Laurie Shaw was employed by the club as 'lead artificial scientist' in January and Sportsmail understands City have made at least three other similar appointments.
When asked by Sportsmail, City would only confirm they had made 'new hires' in the data area, adding that all recruits have backgrounds in physics and that they will work across City Football Group's (CFG) 10 clubs.
The group are expanding their data analysis team at a time when off-field marginal gains are a high priority for Europe's elite clubs.