The mere mention of Sven Mislintat’s name in an article is enough to get fans excited so what has the former Borussia Dortmund man been up to since he arrived at the club?
Let’s take a look at the background, hopes, reality and verdict of the Arsenal adventure so far…
3The reality
Mislintat got to work right away.
Arsenal completed the signing of Mavropanos from Greek side PAS Giannina for a fee believed to be between £1.8m and £2.2m depending on where you do your reading.
The signing was out of left-field for Arsenal and it seems that Mislintat scouted Mavropanos for Dortmund before his move to Arsenal. Mislintat has links with the Greek market after finding 18-year-old Argiris Kampetsis from Olympiacos and helping him sign for Dortmund last summer and he may have unearthed another gem in Mavropanos.
Although the 20-year-old centre-back isn’t exactly the big name signing Arsenal fans consistently crave, he’s a strong addition for the future.
Mislintat was also credited with playing a key role in bringing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Dortmund to Arsenal in January.
It was claimed that he is also the reason Arsenal went after Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Manchester United.
According to the Daily Mail, Mislintat is a huge fan of Mkhitaryan. The midfielder played for Borussia Dortmund while the scout was there, and the 45-year-old was keen to bring the Armenian to Arsenal.
Arsene Wenger did not take to the new arrival well at first. In fact, the manager was positively testy when asked about Mislintat. “We knew every player in Europe, even before Sven came to us,” Wenger said. “Sometimes in a little club in Germany, he might know somebody that we might ignore.”
Wenger even referred to Mavropanos as that ‘Greek boy.’ Wenger’s tone seemed flippant and borderline disrespectful.
It also made it very clear that the Frenchman had nothing to do with signing the 20-year-old – as was suspected.
Next, the verdict on Sven Mislintat