Sven Mislintat and Stuttgart have parted ways. The former Arsenal executive in charge of finding potential talent failed to agree on a new contract and has left his role as sporting director at the Bundesliga.
Mislintat waved goodbye to Arsenal in February of 2021 having spent less than 14 months with the Gunners. He was responsible for the signings of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi, all of whom are no longer in north London, whilst working with Raul Sanllehi and then head coach Unai Emery.
He was part of the board that chose Emery, who left Arsenal less than a year after Mislintat having seen the Gunners drop to 11th in the table. Mislintat revealed in a statement that he was unable to agree on how his work would continue at Stuttgart.
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"In our talks, we didn't find a common denominator for continuing my work at VfB. I very much regret that because VfB has become a matter close to my heart in recent years and I would have liked to have continued to contribute to the positive development of this great club," he said.
“I will never forget the time in Stuttgart, emotional highlights like promotion or the last-minute win on the last day of last season will stay with me forever. I would like to thank everyone who has accompanied and supported me on my way and I wish the team and the great fans all the best.”
His words are strangely similar to his departure from Arsenal. It became clear quickly there were disagreements at the executive level.
In an interview with 11Freunde, Mislintat explained that Edu’s previous role as technical director was actually agreed to be his. However, it was clear that the club’s vision seen by then Head of Football Sanllehi did not align.
“It had actually been agreed that I would become technical director, so then I would be around the team on a daily basis,” he revealed. “But the new leadership had their own agenda and other candidates.
“We had different approaches,” he added. “Previously we had a strong systematic approach to transfers, a mixture of watching things live as well as quality data and video analysis – Arsenal actually owns their own data company.
“That meant that we acted independently, we knew about all markets and players in all positions that came into question.
“However, the new leadership work more strongly with what they are offered from clubs or agents through their own networks."
Edu was appointed later the same year as Arsenal’s technical director. The Brazilian has overseen some low seasons but is very much in the scope of a long-term project which is beginning to see major benefits as the current squad constructed by him and manager Mikel Arteta sit five points clear at the top of the table.
The signings made at Stuttgart under Mislintat such as Sasa Kalajdzic and Silas helped them reach the German top tier. However, the former has since left and the signings made while in the top flight saw them finish above the relegation play-off place last season and currently Stuttgart are in that 16th spot this season.
The approach of Mislintat was to find gems, but like at Arsenal, they ultimately have not aided a progression in the project. Whereas compared to Edu, whose direct impact on recruitment has seen the club improve and level up their aims to the highest heights.
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