SVEN MISLINTAT has revealed the broken promises and change of policy which forced him to quit Arsenal.
The German talent spotter known as “Diamond Eye” resigned as the club’s head of recruitment in May after just 14 months in the job.
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And now he makes it clear that he felt undermined by manager Unai Emery and head of football Raul Sanllehi.
Mislintat’s chief complaint was that he was overlooked for the role of technical director which he claims he had been promised by former chief executive Ivan Gazidis.
But he was also bitterly opposed to the loan signing of winger Dennis Suarez in January but was overruled by Emery and Sanllehi.
Speaking for the first time since his shock resignation, Mislintat has said in an interview with 11Freunde: “It had actually been agreed that I would become technical director, so then I would be around the team on a daily basis.
“But that didn’t happen because the new leadership had their own agenda and other candidates.”
We had different approaches to the job.
Mislintat on Emery
Arsenal paid Borussia Dortmund £2million to appoint Mislintat as their head of recruitment in November 2017.
And he made an instant impact at the club, using his contacts to bring in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Bernd Leno, Sokratis, Lucas Torreira, Matteo Guendouzi and Stephan Lichtsteiner last year.
But he believes his role changed when chief executive Gazidis left for AC Milan last September and Sanllehi took over his responsibilities.
Mislintat claims: “We had different approaches to the job.
“Previously we had a strong systematic approach to transfers, a mixture of watching things live as well as quality data and video analysis from the data company which Arsenal actually owns.
“That meant we acted independently, we knew all about the markets and players in all positions that came into question.
“However, the new leadership works more strongly with what they are offered from clubs or agents through their own networks.”
Former Arsenal midfielder Edu has subsequently been appointed Arsenal’s new technical director and began his new role last week.
But the Brazilian will not play an active role in recruitment during this transfer window as the club continues to pursue deals for Kieran Tierney, William Saliba and Dani Ceballos.
