Helping to bring in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and 20-year-old prospect Konstantinos Mavropanos, Sven Mislintat made a strong start to his new role this January.
Arsenal appointed Mislintat as the club’s new Head of Recruitment in November. Fans were excited to see him join, given his good record scouting at Dortmund, as well as the Gunners’ near complete lack of purchases in the summer transfer window.
It seems like they were right to get excited. According to the Telegraph, the new January signings are an immediate sign of Mislintat’s ‘impact and influence’. It makes sense, since he was key to bringing them both to Dortmund in the first place.
The chance to renew acquaintences with someone who created such a strong team in Germany must appeal to the players. Plus, Mislintat clearly played a part in negotiations with his former club, joining Ivan Gazidis and Huss Fahmy for Aubameyang talks in Dortmund.
In terms of scouting, I can’t imagine the 45-year-old needed to do much for established stars like Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan. Arsene Wenger said in early January that Arsenal already know all the top players in Europe. He also had a bit of a dig at Dortmund, saying: “Sometimes in a little club in Germany, he might know somebody that we might ignore.”
Whatever the manager says about how the club operated before, clearly they’re getting better results now. Whether that’s down to Mislintat, Fahmy, or a change in Gazidis and Wenger, it’s hard to say. Honestly, as long as Arsenal bring in world class stars like they did in the winter window, it doesn’t really matter.