Top 5 players scouted and signed by Sven Mislintat
Arsenal appointed Sven Mislintat as their head scout amid much fanfare from Borussia Dortmund. The man nicknamed "Diamond Eye" has made some excellent signings over the years at Dortmund and was a key man in helping them reach the pinnacle of German football alongside with the electric Jurgen Klopp.
Ever since Jurgen Klopp left Dortmund, Sven Mislintat seemingly did not have the best of relations with the other managers, even publicly falling out with Thomas Tuchel, which ultimately led to him resigning from Dortmund.
Arsenal swooped in and got his services along with Raul Sanllehi the former director of football at Barcelona responsible for the high profile signings of Neymar and Luis Suarez.
Sanllehi will join in February but Mislintat has already hit the ground running with Arsenal by getting involved in the signings of Konstantinos Mavropanos, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Here is a shortlist of the best signings he has made since he became a well-regarded scout:
#5 Jakub Blaszczykowski
Jakub Blaszczykowski, also known as Kuba, was signed from Polish side Wisla Krakow in 2007, went on to become one of the most reliable players for Jurgen Klopp.
The Polish winger was one of the cornerstones of the Dortmund side which won 2 consecutive Bundesliga titles in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 and the DFB Pokal in 2012, and were the 2013 UEFA Champions League runners-up.
Kuba had won the Polish Ekstraklasa title with Wisla Krakow and subsequently joined Dortmund. He was not a household name early in his career, but his performances for Dortmund announced him on the world stage.
In total, he played 252 games for Dortmund scoring 32 times in an 8-year spell before moving on to play for Fiorentina on a season-long loan. After his loan, he signed a 3-year deal with VFL Wolfsburg. Currently, he is the third-most capped Polish player with 97 international caps.