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Arsenal have confirmed that head of recruitment Sven Mislintat will leave next month. Last week, a source told ESPN FC that the 46-year-old would leave the Emirates Stadium after a series of disagreements over the Gunners' organisational structure and transfer strategy. In a statement, Arsenal thanked Mislintat for "a truly outstanding job in helping us recruit players who are making a big impact now and will do so even more in the future." The head of recruitment said: "It's been an amazing experience to work at a great club like Arsenal in what has been a big time of change. I am excited about what the future holds for the club, and am looking forward to new challenges for myself." Mislintat was hired by Ivan Gazidis and Arsene Wenger just over a year ago after his success in spotting undervalued talents such as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ousmane Dembele and Shinji Kagawa at Borussia Dortmund. However, after Gazidis left to take charge at AC Milan in September 2018, former head of football relations Raul Sanllehi was promoted to head of football, with Mislintat reporting directly to him. According to sources, Sanllehi, a former director of football at Barcelona, favoured a recruitment policy based on his network of contacts throughout Europe, while Mislintat had been asked by Gazidis to follow a more stats-based approach. Also last week, Arsenal coach Unai Emery said he did not have any issue with Mislintat. Emery, who has said Arsenal can only afford to sign loan players in the transfer window, is said to have clashed with Mislintat. But he said: "Today the normality is working with him. I was working with him the last two weeks. We had two or three meetings and we are working normally. I don't know another different issue [with] him."
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