Hunting hidden gems - is there anywhere in the world left to scout?

The world's biggest clubs were all aware of the teenage sensation turning heads for Universidad de Chile, the one dubbed his generation's Alexis Sanchez.

"When we signed Dario Osorio, it was not because no-one knew about him," Kristian Kjaer, technical director at Midtjylland, tells BBC Sport.

Osorio was on the radar of AC Milan, RB Leipzig, Salzburg and a number of other English and German clubs before he left Santiago for Denmark at the age of 19.

It was a carefully considered pathway. After three seasons in Scandinavia, the winger joined Crystal Palace on loan this summer with a £24m option to buy which would make him the most expensive sale in Danish Superliga history.

Midtjylland, where Brentford owner Matthew Benham was a majority stakeholder between 2014 and 2023, are renowned as one of the most innovative clubs in Europe for their use of analytics - from set-pieces to smart recruitment.

"We work on both pathways," explains Kjaer. "We have subjective scouting, more classic video scouting, live scouting, a network, people we trust in the club and also our partners. And then we have the data scouting.

"And Dario Osorio, we were aware of him long before we signed him."

From feet-on-the-ground to the increasing availability of footage, data analytics and artificial intelligence, Premier League clubs - whether buying direct from source or tracking players like Osorio's progress - have a large proportion of the world's emerging talent covered.