Sven Mislintat set for Arsenal: Coup for Gunners as they prepare to appoint Borussia Dortmund chief scout

Arsenal are set to land a major coup by luring highly-rated Borussia Dortmund chief scout Sven Mislintat to head up their recruitment department.

The 45-year-old’s arrival is likely to be confirmed in the next few days after the Gunners agreed to pay a compensation figure – believed to be significantly lower than the £1.6million figure reported in Germany – to release him from his current contract which runs to 2021.

Standard Sport understands Arsenal’s existing chief scout Steve Rowley will remain in his role, regardless of Mislintat’s appointment, until the end of the season when he plans to step down after 35 years at the club.

Negotiations with Dortmund are continuing and it is as yet unclear whether Mislintat will join the Gunners in time to advise on the January transfer window or stay in Germany until next summer, but he is expected to be given a wide-ranging brief at Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal’s leading transfer negotiator, Dick Law, left the club in September with chief executive Ivan Gazidis taking over many of responsibilities, along with Huss Fahmy, the legal expert recruited from Team Sky to advise on player contracts, while a suitable replacement was identified.

Mislintat is credited with helping Dortmund stay competitive in the Bundesliga and Champions League despite operating with a much smaller budget than German football’s goliaths, Bayern Munich – a track record which appeals to the Arsenal hierarchy given the bigger expenditure at Manchester City, Manchester United and to a lesser extent Chelsea.

He is responsible for identifying players including Shinji Kagawa – signed from the relative obscurity of Japanese side Cerezo Osaka – in addition to Robert Lewandowski and Ousmane Dembele, who recently left the club for Barcelona in a £135.5m deal.

Mislintat has been repeatedly linked with a move to Bayern, who failed in a bid to make him their Technical Director two years ago, but Arsenal are on the verge of pulling of a significant move, one it is believed has met with manager Arsene Wenger’s approval.