Sven Mislintat (born 5 November 1972) is a German

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

and

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The ...

. He is nicknamed "Diamantenauge" (Diamond Eye) for his ability in spotting players. Mislintat worked for

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

as chief scout from 2006 to 2017, signing players such as

Robert Lewandowski Robert Lewandowski (; born 21 August 1988) is a Polish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club FC Barcelona, Barcelona. Widely regarded as one of the greatest strikers of a ...

and

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Pierre-Emerick Emiliano François Aubameyang (born 18 June 1989) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Saudi Pro League club Al Qadsiah FC, Al-Qadsiah and Captain (associat ...

, and performed the same role at

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

from 2017 to 2019. From 2019 to 2022, he was sporting director at

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

, and director of football at

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

in 2023. He returned to Dortmund as technical director from 2024 to 2025.

Biography

Born in

Kamen Kamen () is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the district Unna. Geography Kamen is situated at the east end of the Ruhr area, approximately 10 km south-west of Hamm and 25 km north-east of Dortmund. Neighbouring citie ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

, Mislintat is a graduate of

Ruhr University Bochum The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began ...

. He qualified as a football coach in 2011. Mislintat went from being an analyst to being chief scout at

in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

in 2006. The team, which had been saved from bankruptcy a year earlier, changed its recruitment from making big-money transfers to signing and developing young players. His signings included Polish striker

in 2010,

as his replacement in 2014, Japanese second division winger

Shinji Kagawa Shinji Kagawa (, ''Kagawa Shinji'' ; born 17 March 1989) is a Japanese professional footballer and football manager who plays as a midfielder. He is widely regarded as one of the best Japanese players of all time. Kagawa became the first midfie ...

, young French forward

Ousmane Dembélé Masour Ousmane Dembélé (; born 15 May 1997) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker or winger for club Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team. Considered one of the best players in the world, he is known for ...

and

Bayern Munich II FC Bayern Munich II (''FC Bayern Munich Amateure'' until 2005) are the German reserve football teams, reserve team of Football in Germany, German association football club FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munich, currently playing in the Regionalliga B ...

defender

Mats Hummels Mats Julian Hummels (; born 16 December 1988) is a German former professional Association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. Known for his well-timed tackles, accurate long passes from the back, aerial ability and strength, he is r ...

; all performed well at Dortmund and several were sold for significant profits. Dembélé joined from

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

for €15 million in 2016 and was sold to

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

a year later for €105 million. In November 2017, Mislintat left Borussia Dortmund for

. He said that he had been looking for an exit from the

Westfalenstadion Westfalenstadion (, ) is a football stadium in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, which is the home stadium of Borussia Dortmund. Officially called Signal Iduna Park for sponsorship reasons and BVB Stadion Dortmund in UEFA competitions, ...

since January 2016, when he was banished from the club's training ground and inner circle by manager

Thomas Tuchel Thomas Tuchel (; born 29 August 1973) is a German professional Manager (association football), football manager and former player who is the manager of the England national football team, England national team. Widely regarded as a forward-think ...

, over an argument about signing

Óliver Torres Óliver Torres Muñoz (; born 10 November 1994) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Midfielder#Central midfielder, central or Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder for Liga MX club C.F. Monte ...

from

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

. He remained at the

Emirates Stadium The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a association football, football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal F.C., Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. ...

until February 2019. He signed eight players, of which two were sold for small profits, resulting in a £103 million loss for the club. The largest loss was for Aubameyang, who followed him to Arsenal for £56 million and left for Barcelona for free. In 2021, he defended all his signings in an interview with ''

The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports journalism department of ''The New York Times''. It provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories ...

''. Mislintat returned to the Bundesliga as

in April 2019. He left in November 2022. He was then linked to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, managed by his former Dortmund colleague

Jürgen Klopp Jürgen Norbert Klopp (; born 16 June 1967) is a German football executive and former Manager (association football), manager and Football player, player. He is widely regarded as one of the best football managers in the world. Klopp has been ...

. The following April, he was hired at

to fill the director of football position left vacant for over a year by

Marc Overmars Marc Overmars (; born 29 March 1973) is a Dutch former professional association football, footballer and former director of football at Belgian First Division A, Belgian Pro League side Royal Antwerp F.C. He was previously director of football a ...

. On 24 September 2023, Mislintat was fired due to a lack of support within the club while he was being investigated whether he had a conflict of interest when he bought a player for Ajax through a broker in which he had 35% share. Mislintat returned to Dortmund in April 2024 as technical director. He was sacked in February 2025 by sports director

Lars Ricken Lars Ricken (born 10 July 1976) is a German retired footballer and the current managing director of Borussia Dortmund. From 2008 to 2024, he was the youth coordinator at Dortmund. Ricken represented Borussia Dortmund throughout his entire prof ...

. Fans protested against what they saw as clashes in the club's executive, also comprising sporting director

Sebastian Kehl Sebastian Walter Kehl (; born 13 February 1980) is a German former professional association football, footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He is currently the Sporting director, Sporting Director of Borussia Dortmund. He amassed Bund ...

and advisor

Matthias Sammer Matthias Sammer (; born 5 September 1967) is a German Association football, football official and former player and coach. He played as a defensive midfielder and later in his career as a Sweeper (association football), sweeper. With Borussia D ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mislintat, Sven 1972 births Living people People from Kamen Ruhr University Bochum alumni Association football scouts Borussia Dortmund non-playing staff Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff VfB Stuttgart non-playing staff AFC Ajax non-playing staff German expatriates in England German expatriates in the Netherlands