Scout Report – Sven Mislintat
Arsenal have announced the signing of Borussia Dortmund’s Sven Mislintat as their chief scout. Often dubbed ‘diamond eye’, Mislintat has become quite a respectable figure at the German club. He is set to join Arsenal from December and the Gunners will be eager to bring the famed super scout to their ranks.
The 45-year-old has been credited with landing a number of Dortmund’s successful signings over the years and that includes obtaining the likes of Robert Lewandoski, Ousmane Dembele, Shinji Kagawa, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Raphael Guerreiro. Let’s take a closer look at Mislintat’s profile.
History
Born in 1972 in Kamen, Germany, Mislintat first joined Dortmund in 1998 as a game analyst. He spent 4 years at the club, following which he moved to VfL Kamen as an assistant coach. After dabbling with coaching for a couple of years, Mislintat moved back to Dortmund again in 2009 – this time as a scout. He worked steadily and his eye for quality stars saw him earn the post of chief scout earlier this year.
Incidentally, Mislintat also came close to leaving the club last year after a series of disagreements with former manager Thomas Tuchel. However, it was Tuchel who ultimately left the club.
Adept at working with a modest budget, Mislintat has also been the subject of attention from Bayern Munich who wanted to make him their technical director. The move did not go through despite Mislintat having been linked with Dortmund’s arch-rivals.
Notable Signings
The key signing of Mislintat’s career which helped him establish himself was Shinji Kagawa. He pushed Dortmund to make the signing from Japanese club Cerezo Osaka. Kagawa arrived soon and was sold to Manchester United two years later in quite a profitable deal.
Mislintat also brought in the likes of Mats Hummels, Jakub Blaszyczkowski, Neven Subotic and Sven Bender – all responsible for winning back-to-back Bundesliga titles, as well as reaching the 2013 Champions League final under Jurgen Klopp.
In recent times, Mislintat hit yet another jackpot with Ousmane Dembele. The young French striker joined from Rennes and was later sold off to Barcelona for a whopping £135.5m.
Mislintat’s Future
A move to Arsenal will benefit the club as the German scout is used to working with a relatively modest budget. Not only will he refrain from straining the Gunners’ budget, Mislintat will also bring in fresh, young talent – something that Arsene Wenger’s team has lacked over the years.