Everyone on social media claims to be an expert — and sometimes they’re right. Serie A side Como 1907 evidently thought so, appointing 20-year-old Felix Johnston, formerly a Chelsea content creator on X, as a first-team scout.
Johnston gained recognition by highlighting and analysing Chelsea’s academy prospects. Now he will use that eye for talent to help improve a squad coached by former Chelsea, Arsenal and Spain midfielder Cesc Fàbregas.
“It’s been a long journey,” Johnston told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club. He said his interest began during lockdown when a friend urged him to join Twitter. He built a following and found his niche covering the Chelsea academy, watching youth matches and profiling rising stars.
As Chelsea pursued a youth-focused transfer strategy, Johnston stayed up late to follow prospects such as Kendry Paez and Estevão. That attention brought some recognition from people inside the game and turned a passion into a possible career.
In the past six months his progress accelerated. In April he worked as a scouting consultant for Danish side Vejle, and in late July Como contacted him. The club’s director of recruitment messaged on Twitter saying he liked Johnston’s posts and wanted to bring in younger, modern scouts. After an internship, Johnston was offered the job nine weeks later.
Combining the role with university studies in Milan, Johnston describes his duties at Como: the recruitment director — formerly head of data at AZ Alkmaar — provides data-driven lists of players, which Johnston watches and evaluates. He prepares reports on players requested by the club, with no fixed region or position constraints.
Typically five full matches suffice for an initial report, though Johnston will watch more if a player’s team has low possession or the player has limited involvement, to gather sufficient evidence.
Johnston’s route is unconventional, but he says Como is a forward-thinking club eager to discover new talent. The approach appears successful: Como sit seventh in their second season back in Serie A.
Johnston’s top recommendation for the future is 16-year-old centre-back Deinner Ordóñez of Independiente del Valle in Ecuador — the same academy that produced Moisés Caicedo. From now on Johnston’s scouting and opinions will be directed to Fàbregas and the Como staff rather than social media followers.
