Sven Mislintat openly discusses his time at Arsenal: ‘We decided not to take the risk’

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·6 October 2025

Sven Mislintat openly discusses his time at Arsenal: ‘We decided not to take the risk’

After his 11-year first stint at Borussia Dortmund, Sven Mislintat swapped the Ruhr club for Arsenal, where he was appointed the Gunners’ head of recruitment. Nicknamed Diamantenauge (English: Diamond Eye) for his ability to unearth talents such as Shinji Kagawa, Ousmane Dembele and Alexander Isak, Mislintat brought Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Arsenal for £56m and played a key role in the appointment of Unai Emery as a successor to Arsène Wenger eight months after his arrival.

Speaking exclusively to Kicker, Mislintat looked back on his time at the north London club.

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“When I was at Arsenal, the billions hadn’t been invested there like in previous years. Nevertheless, the team we put together reached the Europa League final and later won the cup. What changed a lot for me was that Arsène Wenger and the then CEO Ivan Gazidis, who had brought me in, left London within a short space of time. Arsène stepped down as manager eight months after my arrival, and Ivan accepted an offer from Milan shortly afterwards. A completely new structure was formed and on top of that, England was facing Brexit. I could have stayed but as a family, we decided not to take the risk of a complete move with the children under those circumstances and to see what opportunities might arise in Germany.”

GGFN | Daniel Pinder