Here are Sven Mislintat’s eight Arsenal signings made between 2017 and 2019. The German is now linked with Liverpool.
Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg claims that Liverpool are considering Sven Mislintat as a replacement for Julian Ward. Ward, the Reds’ sporting director, shocked everyone with his resignation last week. He’ll officially leave the Reds at the end of the season.
And it appears that Mislintat could replace him. The German previously worked with Jurgen Klopp at Borussia Dortmund – and very successfully. However, he also had a less-than-successful spell with Arsenal between 2017 and 2019.
He made eight signings in that time – so let’s have a look at what he did.
Sven Mislintat’s Arsenal signings
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
It’s hard to judge this one. Aubameyang was undoubtedly a brilliant signing for Arsenal, scoring 92 goals in 163 games. He thrived immediately on joining the Gunners, with 10 goals in 13 Premier League games across his first half-season.
But at the same time, there’s a reason for that. Aubameyang was already established as a world-class player, scoring 141 goals in 213 games with Borussia Dortmund.
A great signing, then, but not one that required any great skill.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
An awkward one to judge, this. Arsenal had to do something as Alexis Sanchez ran down his contract. The solution was a swap-deal with Manchester United for Mkhitaryan. Like Aubameyang, this was Mislintat re-signing someone he’d had success with at Dortmund.
Unlike Aubameyang, Mkhitaryan wasn’t a success. He was fine but as a replacement for Sanchez? Nowhere near.
Dinos Mavropanos
Mavropanos arrived for a couple of million and never really achieved anything at Arsenal. Instead, he went off to Stuttgart on loan in 2020 and spent two years there. This year, they signed him permanently.
That also happens to be where Mislintat now works.
Bernd Leno
Leno was supposed to be the answer to Arsenal’s future in goal. Instead, he never replicated the form he’d shown with Bayer Leverkusen.
After losing his place to Aaron Ramsdale, he joined Fulham this summer.
Sokratis
Sokratis was another player Mislintat signed for Dortmund. He then took him to Arsenal where he was okay. Sokratis never really shone, even if he had plenty of qualities.
Mikel Arteta immediately cut him loose, however. It made him another signing – and it’s a theme on this list – where Arsenal took a major financial loss.
Lucas Torreira
Torreira initially looked like a sensational signing. He’d generated plenty of hype in Italy and starred on his arrival at Arsenal. Unfortunately, it was downhill from there.
Arteta wasn’t keen and sent him out on loan to Atletico Madrid and Fiorentina. Arsenal eventually sold him to Galatasaray in the summer – once again, for a huge loss.
Matteo Guendouzi
Again, Guendouzi started well with Arsenal before fading away quite badly. He initially looked like he could become a world-class player. By the end, he was going out on loan.
He’s really found success with Marseille, however, who he joined permanently this summer. Enough that Guendouzi has won six France caps in the last year, suggesting Arsenal just didn’t get the best out of his talent.
Stephan Lichtsteiner
Lichsteiner was a strange signing and despite being free, clearly didn’t have what it took to perform for Arsenal. It’s hard to be too critical as he didn’t cost anything but the Swiss full-back retired just two years after signing the deal.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
