Arsenal have confirmed that Head of Recruitment Sven Mislintat will be leaving the club next month.
Mislintat is one of the most well known scouts in world football. His ability to spot a player with the potential to be world class, and then sign him at a bargain, is arguably second to none.
Despite only being at Arsenal since the the start of December 2017, the German is already on his way out. Several reports have suggested that a massive power struggle behind the scenes is the reason behind his departure.
Raul Sanllehi’s appointment as the club’s Director of Football following Ivan Gazidis’s exit signaled a period of change at the top level. The Gunners are eager to appoint a new Technical Director and have been searching for one since last year. Mislintat was initially the only name linked to the job, and put forward his name as a potential candidate. However, despite the superb work he has done since his arrival at the club, they have decided to look elsewhere.
Reports claim that Mislintat has felt unfairly treated and did not take kindly to the snub. He felt he deserved a promotion, but the club decided against giving him the job. If he did stay on, his role in transfers would be significantly reduced once the new appointment was made.
Bearing this in mind, he has decided to quit and move on, just over a year on from joining the North London side. The club confirmed his departure in a statement on their official website that read:
“Sven Mislintat, our Head of Recruitment, will be leaving us on February 8, 2019.
“Sven has been with us since December 1, 2017 and has done a truly outstanding job in helping us recruit players who are making a big impact now and will do so even more in the future.
“We wish him every success for the future and thank him for his extremely hard work on behalf of Arsenal.”
Speaking about his departure, Sven said:
“It’s been an amazing experience to work at a great club like Arsenal in what has been a big time of change. I am excited about what the future holds for the club and am looking forward to new challenges for myself.”
Mislintat leaves Arsenal having made an enormous impact on the club despite his short stay. The man who is credited with the birth of Borussia Dortmund’s generation certainly made his mark in London. He was a key factor in the arrivals of Bernd Leno, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Matteo Guendouzi and Konstantinos Mavropanos.
It is fair to say the decision to let him go has not gone down well with the Arsenal fans. However, it is yet another decision they will be forced to accept as the protests against the ownership of Stan Kroenke continue to rage on.
