Arsenal’s head of recruitment, Sven Mislintat, will leave his position on Friday after a reported difference in vision with director of football Raul Sanllehi.
The appointment of the former Borussia Dortmund talent-spotter, nicknamed ‘Diamond Eye’, in November 2017 was seen as a coup, but the 46-year-old is leaving the Emirates Stadium following a 14-month spell at the club. But what does this mean for the Gunners?
The club made eight signings during Mislintat’s time in charge of their recruitment department.
His first transfer window at the club saw a club-record £60m move for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Dortmund, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan also arriving as part of the deal which sent Alexis Sanchez to Manchester United, and little-known Greek defender Konstantinos Mavropanos joining from PAS Giannina.
Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi arrived from Sampdoria and Lorient respectively to strengthen the midfield, while Sokratis Papastathopoulosand Stephan Lichtsteiner were brought into the defence and Bernd Lenoarrived to provide competition for Petr Cech in goal.
During the most recent January transfer window, Mislintat’s departure was announced by the club as the Gunners appeared to miss out on targets Ivan Perisic and Yannick Carrasco, but Arsenal did sign Barcelona’s Denis Suarez on loan, as reported by Sky Sports.
Profiling players and picking the right targets seems to be his speciality, rather than negotiating contracts, and he was less interested in working with the talent once they were through the doors of the Emirates Stadium, preferring to keep a low profile and continue working under the radar to find the next gems.
The search for his successor has already begun with Roma equivalent Monchi fancied, but despite the uncertainty the Gunners are still expected to leverage a relatively hefty budget for the coming summer window.
The club is reported to be looking for more of a technical director to fill Mislintat’s shoes; someone not only able to identify the next best talents but also help nurture them once they are at the club with a more closer tie to Unai Emery and the coaching staff.