Building a more structured scouting process

As one of Brazil's leading clubs, Fortaleza Esporte Clube SAF have continued to invest in developing their recruitment operation and strengthening the processes behind player identification.

For Head of Recruitment Witor Bastos and his team, that means not only identifying the right players, but creating a structured and consistent approach to scouting across the department.

Modern recruitment teams work with huge amounts of information. Players are watched multiple times, evaluations are made by different scouts and recruitment priorities evolve throughout the season.

Without a clear system, that information can quickly become fragmented across spreadsheets, documents and individual notes.

Fortaleza were looking for a way to bring more of that work together.

Fortaleza Esporte Clube SAF celebrate during the 2026/27 season.

The club was already familiar with TransferRoom through its existing partnership, making the introduction of TransferRoom Scout a natural next step.

"When we learned about TransferRoom Scout and understood that there was a specific solution for managing a scouting department, it immediately caught our attention.

"What attracted us most was the possibility of bringing different parts of our scouting work together in one place, from recording the players we analyse and our assessments to following the work of the team and planning the department's activities.

"For us, it made sense to use a tool that was already part of an ecosystem we knew, while also helping us structure the department’s routines and processes more effectively."

Witor Bastos, Head of Recruitment, Fortaleza Esporte Clube SAF

Creating a consistent record of every scouting decision

One of the biggest benefits Fortaleza have seen is greater consistency in how scouting information is recorded and managed.

Scouts can register the players they analyse, apply the club's own evaluation methodology and maintain a history of their observations.

That history becomes increasingly valuable over time.

A player might be watched several times, by different scouts and in different circumstances. Instead of those observations sitting in separate documents or personal notes, Fortaleza can keep them together and build a clearer picture of how the player has been assessed.

"A player can be watched several times, by different people and at different moments, and the platform allows us to keep that information together rather than relying on individual notes or separate documents.

"Over time, this gives us a much clearer history of how we have evaluated a player and why we reached a particular decision."

Witor Bastos, Head of Recruitment, Fortaleza Esporte Clube SAF

Improving operational efficiency

For Fortaleza, the value of TransferRoom Scout isn't simply measured by how many hours it saves on an individual task.

Instead, Bastos describes the benefit as "operational efficiency".

Having information, assessments and departmental planning in one place makes it easier for the recruitment team to understand what has already been done, what scouts are currently working on and what needs to happen next.

That gives the Head of Recruitment a clearer overview of the department while helping scouts work within a more structured process.

"I would describe the benefit more as operational efficiency than just simply time saved. It makes the day-to-day management of the department much easier.

"We want to make the platform an increasingly important part of our daily scouting routine."

Witor Bastos, Head of Recruitment, Fortaleza Esporte Clube SAF

The same principles can be particularly valuable for clubs operating with smaller recruitment departments.

When resources are limited, maintaining a clear record of scouting activity becomes even more important. Fragmented information can lead to duplicated work, missed observations or valuable knowledge being lost between different members of a team.

For Bastos, TransferRoom Scout can help smaller departments make better use of the people they already have.

"When your team is small, you need to be very disciplined about how you record information, follow your work and prioritise your time.

"Having a structured environment for the scouting process can help avoid information becoming fragmented between different people, spreadsheets, documents or personal notes.

"It is helping a smaller team work in a more organised and sustainable way."

Witor Bastos, Head of Recruitment, Fortaleza Esporte Clube SAF

And for clubs considering TransferRoom Scout, Bastos believes it is something worth exploring.

"For us, TransferRoom Scout has been very useful because we can bring our own methodology, evaluations and daily routines into the platform.

"If a club is looking to structure its scouting process and create a consistent record of its work, I think it is definitely a tool worth considering."

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