Arsenal are reportedly chasing Borussia Dortmund’s in-demand chief scout Sven Mislintat to replace Steve Rowley.
Mislintat is credited with bringing superstars Robert Lewandowski, Shinji Kagawa, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ousmane Dembele to the Bundesliga giants.
The Gunners’ current chief scout Rowley is thought to be on the brink of quitting after 35 years as chief executive Ivan Gazidis plans a shake-up of the recruitment system.
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Dortmund are thought to have warned off Bayern Munich two summers ago when the German champions wanted Mislintat as technical director.
And Mislintat was in the public eye again last season after a big fall-out with then-manager Thomas Tuchel, who ironically has been linked with eventually succeeding Arsene Wenger as Arsenal boss
Tuchel finally left Dortmund in May this year, days after winning the German Cup.
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And now ESPN say German Mislintat, 45, has emerged as the leading candidate for the Emirates – if Rowley departs as expected.
Gazidis would regard luring Mislintat as the biggest piece of the jigsaw in his behind-the-scenes revamp.
Rowley has reportedly become unsettled as Arsenal look to resolve what many see as a poor transfer record in the past few seasons.
Rivals like Tottenham have brought in and developed young talent, whereas many of the Gunners’ big-name buys have had mixed careers in the Premier League.
Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil has regularly come under fire despite his obvious class.
And Chile striker Alexis Sanchez, signed from Barcelona in 2014, is perhaps the only undoubted hit from Arsenal’s purchases in the past five years.
The Gunners bought German data firm StatDNA in 2012 and are aiming to boost their analytics operation.
Wenger signing a new two-year contract last summer slowed planned for other modernisations.
But chief transfer negotiator Dick Law has stepped down and now Rowley seems close to departing.
