With the shocking news of Julian Ward’s intention to leave his position as Liverpool’s Sporting Director at the end of the season breaking last week, former Arsenal Head of Recruitment Sven Mislintat has been linked to the role.
Having only taking over the role of Sporting Director from Michael Edwards last summer, news of Ward’s imminent departure has come as a major surprise for Liverpool fans in what has been an inconsistent season and an unsettling one behind the scenes. It is widely reported that owners FSG (Fenway Sports Group) are potentially seeking an exit from the club.
Sven Mislintat served as Borussia Dortmund’s Chief Scout and later Director of Football from 2006 until 2017, working closely with Jurgen Klopp for his entire tenure as the Dortmund head coach.
The German then moved to Arsenal in 2017 and served as the club’s Head of Recruitment until 2019, bringing with him from Dortmund Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and Greek defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos.
At times Mislintat came under criticism from Arsenal fans as his signings were not deemed adequate enough to make Arsenal title challengers. When Mislintat left in 2019, the arrival of Edu as Head of Recruitment, who quickly improved the club’s recruitment strategy, placed more scrutiny under Mislintat’s tenure at the North London club.
Given Mislintat’s close relationship with Klopp, his appointment as Sporting Director would make a certain degree of sense.
Earlier today Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg reported that Mislintat is a candidate in the search for a successor to Julian Ward.
Excl. News #Mislintat: He is a candidate in order to replace Ward as a Sporting Director at #LFC in summer 2023! No concrete negotiations yet but he‘s open for Liverpool. Relation to Klopp still brilliant. They have worked together in Dortmund (08-15). @Sky_Marc @SkySportDE 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/ZZ1bXAY5tr
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) November 30, 2022
