Arsenal sign 'Diamond Eye' - who is Sven Mislintat?

The Gunners will pay around €2 million (£1.8m) for the signing of chief scout and director of football Sven Mislintat. His official job title is head of recruitment and will start work in December.

"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," Gunners boss Arsene Wenger told the club's website.

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

An agreement between the two clubs was reached on Monday and the 45-year-old will command a salary in the region of €1.8m.

We asked our German office to help shed light on this intriguing acquisition…

Mislintat is nicknamed ‘Diamond Eye’ in Germany thanks to a string of brilliant scouting spots for Dortmund over the years.

He started out as a player for his local team, VfL Kamen, before moving into coaching at the age of 29.

After a spell in the fourth division of German football at Westfalia Herne, he was appointed as a scout at Dortmund in the summer of 2007 and promoted to his current position in the summer of 2017.

Mislintat is credited with having played a huge role in building the Dortmund team which reached the Champions League final in 2013.

He played a part in the identification of players such as Mats Hummels, Jakub Blaszyczkowski and Robert Lewandowski, who helped the club deliver so much success under Jurgen Klopp.

In recent years, he has helped construct one of the best young squads in Europe with purchases such as Ousmane Dembele, now at Barcelona, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Raphael Guerreiro.

One of his most famous coups was spotting Shinji Kagawa - a player Dortmund signed for just €300,000 in 2010.

There were strong rumours that Bayern Munich wanted to sign Mislintat in the summer but Dortmund were reluctant to allow him to go to a direct rival.

It is no surprise that he is finally leaving Dortmund, though, as his relationship with top executives has become strained and it was only a matter of time that he would be tempted away.

Courtesy of Marc Hlusiak, from our German website:

Long-serving chief scout Steve Rowley has stepped down following Mislintat's appointment, although he will play an ad hoc role as a consultant.

"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."