Boas reveals 'massive arguments' with data analysts while managing Tottenham

Andre Villas-Boas has spoken about the unexpected emotional rigour of arguing about signings with data analysts while at Tottenham.

The Portuguese manager spent 18 months at Spurs between July 2012 and December 2013 and wanted to sign a midfield star he had coached at Porto.

He recalls 'massive, massive arguments' as he wanted to make his compatriot one of his first signings - but the club wagged their fingers and said the player was only sixth on their data-led midfield shortlist.

Spurs pushed ahead with other targets, including Mousa Dembele, and returned for the mystery man at the end of the summer window, missing out on his signature by minutes - despite agreeing a £24million fee for him.

That midfielder went on to be a Euros winner, a Ligue 1 winner, and a quality Premier League player, having been well-established in Portugal.

The player in question is Joao Moutinho, who played for Sporting CP and Porto before moving on to Monaco, Wolves, and now Braga.

'I wanted to sign Joao Moutinho and he was sitting sixth on the list compiled by data people. The first on the list was Dembele and we ended up signing him,' Villas-Boas said at Web Summit in Lisbon.

'It drained me emotionally to the point where, here was a guy that the data was not showing all that he represented from the coach's perspective, which is a player that knows your leadership, a player that knows your style, adaptability to your style.

'This can be quantified, but it must be done in the view of a coach and not a single view.

'This was the problem in the beginning and we mad massive, massive arguments in the beginning because of this with Moutinho.

'We signed Dembele but missed out on Moutinho and it was unfortunate because we were going to build up a very strong