Sven Mislintat hasn’t ruled out targeting players from his former club Borussia Dortmund.

Mislintat arrived as Arsenal’s new Head of Recruitment last month and began work on Friday.

In an interview with German publication Kicker, he was asked if there was an agreement in place that would prevent him scouting players at his former club, Borussia Dortmund.

According to the scout, their players are very much fair game.

“No. I have the utmost respect for my old club. In all aspects. But, the fact is, we’re rivals now,” he said, as reported by Football.London.

You’d like to think Arsenal already knew plenty about Borussia Dortmund’s best players, having come up against them numerous times in recent seasons. They wouldn’t need to poach their best scout in order to obtain that information.

Mislintat Sven
Sven Mislintat, Arsenal’s new Head of Recruitment.

Dortmund may hope that Mislintat will discover gems from elsewhere, rather than target their best players, but it seems Arsenal could consider poaching their talent if they need to strengthen in any area.

Mislintat discovered some of Dortmund’s finest players, including Ousmane Dembele, Shinji Kagawa, Robert Lewandowski and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

If he can identify even a fraction of that talent for Arsenal, it would have been worth the effort to bring him to the club.

It’s unknown what Dortmund players Arsenal already had on their shortlist, but I believe they stand a better chance of procuring their signature with Mislintat on their side.