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Confirmed: Arsenal appoint Sven Mislintat as head of recruitment

Talent: Sven Mislintat has impressed many across Europe with his work at Borussia Dortmund: Bongarts/Getty Images
Talent: Sven Mislintat has impressed many across Europe with his work at Borussia Dortmund: Bongarts/Getty Images

Arsenal have announced the appointment of Sven Mislintat as the club’s new head of recruitment.

The former chief scout at Borussia Dortmund will join the club in December and arrives with a glittering track record of success in the Bundesliga.

Mislintat, nicknamed 'Diamond Eye', has been part of a recruitment system that has seen Dortmund discover gems such as Ousmane Dembele, Robert Lewandowski and Shinji Kagawa, the €350,000 signing of the latter from Japanese side Cerezko Osaka being a decision he credits as “the key player for my career as a scout”.

Arsene Wenger said: “We are delighted that Sven is joining us. Identifying and developing talent is a core part of our philosophy and Sven has an outstanding track record over many years.

“We look forward to him taking our existing recruitment approach forwards.”

Mislintat said of his departure: "I was born and raised here, I've been working for the club since 2006, I'm a thoroughbred. And I will certainly always stay that way!"

As Standard Sport reported this morning, chief scout Steve Rowley will remain at the club for the time being despite having stood down from his role and will provide what Arsenal term “ad hoc scouting on a consultancy basis”.

Rowley, who has been at Arsenal for 25 years, was elevated to the role of chief scout a decade into Wenger’s reign.

“We would like to thank Steve Rowley for all his hard work over many years for the club,” Wenger added.

“He has been a key figure in our recruitment of so many top players and has travelled thousands and thousands of miles, watching hundreds of games for us during his time at the club. We wish him well for the future.”

Borussia Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc hinted that Mislintat had received an offer too good to turn down.

"He has done an excellent job at Dortmund," Zorc said. "We took this into account when Sven asked a few weeks ago to accept the extraordinary offer of Arsenal. We did not want to deny him this opportunity."