Arsenal: Sven Mislintat smart, not lazy

Sven Mislintat has looked back to Borussia Dortmund for much of his early transfer work at Arsenal. Some have accused him of being lazy; I would rather say that it is smart.

Looking back, it is fairly clear to see that Sven Mislintat, not Arsene Wenger, was in charge of Arsenal’s transfer work in the January window. The new Head of Recruitment was an appointment that signalled the end of Wenger’s reign, his position challenging the all-powerful stature that Wenger previously held. And so it transpired.

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So far, then, Mislintat has orchestrated three signings — to what extent these transactions were of his doing is not know, but it is fair to assume that he gave the go-ahead on all three –, all coming in January. Of the three, two, Henrik Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, are former Borussia Dortmund players, the club from which Mislintat was cherry-picked.

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And now, in his second window in his new role, Mislintat is again exploiting his Dortmund connections, reportedly working towards a £16 million deal to secure the services of centre-half Sokratis Papastathopolous. If that deal, as is expected, is completed before any other, then of 75% of Mislintat’s early transfer work will have a connection to his time in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Tom Adams, of ESPN, has questioned Mislintat’s imagination, horizons, and scouting efforts because of his reliance on his former team.  In the piece, he concludes, ‘It’s time to re-earn that “Diamond Eye” nickname.’  To an extent, his point makes some sense: Arsenal cannot match the budgets of their domestic rivals and Mislintat, therefore, is going to have to do more than return to Dortmund, which is a market that will become pricey quickly.

But that all becomes a little facetious and unfair when you consider that Mislintat has not even been in the job for a year, he is working on his second transfer window — potentially first, depending on how much you care to attribute the January work to him –, and has just seen a 22-year king depart in a ground-shaking exit.

Perhaps, in fact, with all the change that is going on around him, Mislintat is smart to stick to what he knows and what he trusts. He is still getting used to surroundings in north London. Rather than taking risks on players that may or may not become superstars, he is choosing those who he is sure can perform at a high level from day one. That’s smart, not lazy.

And so far, his moves haven’t exactly failed. Aubameyang is one of the most exciting players to play in this team since Thierry Henry, and could well end up being the best also, and Mkhitaryan has far out-shone Alexis Sanchez who he was traded for in a straight swap. It seems a little harsh to criticise a man for trusting what he knows and then being vindicated by such trust.

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Now, that does not mean that Mislintat can solely rely on the Dortmund assembly line, as Adams rightly highlights. But let’s have a bit of patience. The man needs to be allowed to work, for Pete’s sake.