The fans were elated to see Sven Mislintat joining Arsenal as their head of recruitment back in November 2017. His previous stint at Borussia Dortmund earned him cult status in Germany for his shrewd signings with inferior spending power. There he was nicknamed as ‘Diamond Eye’ for the ability to identify talents, and his brief stint at the Emirates was productive too having tied down some exciting names over the course of the past three windows.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Matteo Guendouzi, Bernd Leno, Lucas Torreira and Sokratis Papastathopoulos – the majority of Mislintat’s recruits made an immediate impact in the Gunners’ colours. The German was doing a decent job at Arsenal considering the budget constraints and certain limitations, but his decision parting ways in early February following only 14 months of association surprised the supporters.
Why Did He Leave?
There have been plenty of speculations, debates and discussions regarding Mislintat’s exit. But the real reason has surfaced recently according to The Sunday Times.
He had a disagreement with club’s head of football Raul Sanllehi who joined from Barcelona. The signing of Denis Suarez is the reason behind the argument as claimed by the outlet which eventually led to a dispute with Unai Emery who was adamant in roping in the Spaniard on loan following their Europa League success together at Sevilla back in 2015.
Mislintat was not wrong as the then Barcelona outcast had an injury-ravaged period in North London and only played 95 minutes of football to go down as one of the high-profile flops in the club’s history.
What Did He Suggest?
Arsenal were in the hunt for a wide attacker but could not afford to wrap up the signings of Ivan Perisic and Yannick Carrasco due to the ongoing financial crisis. They were in a position to propose loan deals only, and Mislintat was thoroughly sceptical over the transfer of Suarez due to his lack of playing minutes at Camp Nou as well as the player’s fitness concerns.
His suggestion was to promote the promising academy duo Joe Willock and Bukayo Saka down the wide areas until the summer, but Emery dismissed his piece of advice and banked on the once highly-rated midfielder.
While the 25-year-old Spain international has returned to Celta Vigo, the German is also back in the business having been appointed as Stuttgart’s director of football. It is to be seen now whether Edu succeeds as the Gunners’ technical director and drag them out of the mess to carry his legacy forward.