Ex-Arsenal chief searching for fifth club in six years after brutal sacking
Ex-Arsenal chief searching for fifth club in six years after brutal sacking
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Former Arsenal transfer chief Sven Mislintat is searching for his fifth club in six years after being sacked by Borussia Dortmund. Mislintat was only appointed as the Bundesliga side's technical director 10 months ago. But it has been an awful season for Dortmund, who sit 11th in the German top-flight, with manager Nuri Sahin being sacked two weeks ago. The 52-year-old joined Dortmund after being sacked by Ajax in September 2023, after news broke that he was facing an internal investigation after a sports marketing company in which he owned shares was linked to the arrival of new signings that summer.
He had previously had stints with Stuttgart and, most memorably for Premier League fans, at Arsenal. The German spent 18 months at the Gunners, signing nine players across three transfer windows with a net spend of £78.4m. None of the nine remain at the club, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Matteo Guendouzi infamously falling out with Mikel Arteta, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Stephan Lichtsteiner proving to not be up to scratch and Bernd Leno not meshing with Arteta's style.
He left the Emirates Stadium in 2019, 10 months before Arteta arrived at the club to replace Unai Emery. Dortmund released a short statement on Thursday to confirm that Mislintat would be searching for his fifth club since January 2019. It read: "Bundesliga football club Borussia Dortmund has released its technical director Sven Mislintat with immediate effect. Lars Ricken, BVB’s sports director, personally informed Mislintat of this decision on Thursday.".
Mislintat’s dismissal comes amid a period of turmoil behind the scenes at Dortmund, with long-term CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke leaving the club in the summer of 2025. Sporting director Sebastian Kehl has extended his contract until 2027. But he has a strained relationship with Ricken, who beat him to the managing director role in May. Mislintat was previously chief scout at Dortmund between 2006 and 2017, being credited with spotting the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Ousmane Dembele and Aubamayang.
He had a mixed spell at Arsenal, with his exit coming amid reports of a falling out with then sporting director Raul Sanllehi. But Mislintat has since defended the decisions he made in the transfer market while at Arsenal. He told The Athletic: "'He only knows Dortmund players'. That was the take, I know. To be quite clear: I don’t feel ashamed of any of those transfers, on the contrary, I will always defend these guys. Not because they were my players but because they were Arsenal players and capable ones.
"They turned up. The team went unbeaten in 22 games in all competitions, made it to the Europa League final and finished fifth with 70 points. You can say that’s not good enough. But many teams would love to finish fifth now. "I felt that we were on the right track and I would have enjoyed the opportunity to develop further at Arsenal. Anyway, I don’t look back. I learned massively and loved my days at the club, in the Premier League and in London.".
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