Sven Mislintat (born 5 November 1972) is a German

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

and

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

. He is nicknamed "Diamantenauge" (Diamond Eye) for his ability in spotting players. He was the chief scout at Borussia Dortmund from 2006 to 2017, signing players such as Robert Lewandowski and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and performed the same role at

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

from 2017 to 2019. From 2019 to 2022, he was sporting director at VfB Stuttgart, and director of football at Ajax in 2023.

Biography

Born in Kamen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Mislintat is a graduate of

Ruhr University Bochum The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began in ...

. He qualified as a football coach in 2011. Mislintat went from being an analyst to being chief scout at Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga in 2006. The team, which had been saved from bankruptcy a year earlier, changed its recruitment from making big-money transfers to signing and developing young players. His signings included Polish

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

Robert Lewandowski in 2010, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as his replacement in 2014, Japanese second division winger Shinji Kagawa, young French forward Ousmane Dembélé and FC Bayern Munich II defender Mats Hummels; all performed well at Dortmund and several were sold for significant profits. Dembélé joined from Stade Rennais F.C. for €15 million in 2016 and was sold to FC Barcelona a year later for €105 million. In November 2017, Mislintat left Borussia Dortmund for

. He said that he had been looking for an exit from the Westfalenstadion since January 2016, when he was banished from the club's training ground and inner circle by manager Thomas Tuchel, over an argument about signing

Óliver Torres Óliver Torres Muñoz (; born 10 November 1994) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Sevilla as a central midfielder or an attacking midfielder. After starting out at Atlético Madrid he went on spend several years in Portugal with ...

from

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

. He remained at the

Emirates Stadium The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. It has a current seated capacity ...

until February 2019. He signed eight players, of which two were sold for small profits, resulting in a £103 million loss for the club. The largest loss was for Aubameyang, who followed him to Arsenal for £56 million and left for Barcelona for free. In 2021, he defended all his signings in an interview with '' The Athletic''. Mislintat returned to the Bundesliga as

at VfB Stuttgart in April 2019. He left in November 2022. He was then linked to Liverpool, managed by his former Dortmund colleague Jürgen Klopp. The following April, he was hired at AFC Ajax to fill the director of football position left vacant for over a year by

Marc Overmars Marc Overmars (; born 29 March 1973) is a Dutch former professional footballer and director of football at Belgian Pro League side Royal Antwerp FC. He was previously director of football at Ajax. During his football career, he played as a wing ...

. On 24 September 2023, Mislintat was fired due to a lack of support within the club while he was being investigated whether he had a conflict of interest when he bought a player for Ajax through a broker in which he had 35% share.Mislintat kocht via zakenrelatie speler voor Ajax, Amsterdamse club start onderzoek
(in Dutch), '' NOS'', 19 September 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mislintat, Sven 1972 births Living people People from Kamen Ruhr University Bochum alumni Association football scouts Borussia Dortmund non-playing staff Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff VfB Stuttgart non-playing staff AFC Ajax non-playing staff German expatriates in England German expatriates in the Netherlands