Arsenal are reportedly set to continue the ongoing restructuring of the club with plans to promote Sven Mislintat from his current role as head of recruitment to technical director, an apparent nod to his growing influence at the club after arriving in January.
The restructuring of the Gunners began while Arsene Wenger was still in charge, lessening the power and wielded by the Frenchman who was arguably the last of generation of traditional autocratic managers who controlled every aspect of their clubs.
Mislintat was quickly joined by ex-Barcelona official Raul Sanllehi, brought in as head of football operations beside chief executive Ivan Gazidis. Wenger was replaced as manager by new head coach Unai Emery in summer, before Gazidis departed for AC Milan and Arsenal appointed new managing director Vinai Venkatesham to work alongside Sanllehi, now head of football.
According to The Independent, Sanllehi and Mislintat have developed a close working relationship over the last nine months and the former is 'keen' to reward the latter with a 'bigger role'.
As technical director, Mislintat, who has played key roles in the signings of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Bernd Leno, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi, would be promoted directly under Sanllehi.
There is even a suggestion that in time Mislintat could hold a similar position at Arsenal as he did when he left Dortmund in 2017, overseeing much more than just recruitment and taking control of everything from the club's style of play to the academy.
On the pitch, Arsenal have enjoyed a mixed season in 2018/19. The Gunners were beaten by Manchester City and Chelsea in their opening two games, before embarking on a run of 11 consecutive wins in all competitions. They have since drawn their last three league games.
Source : 90min