Year 2018 was an important one in the history of Arsenal. Unfortunately not because the club won any trophies, but because one very important person left and two new came in. In May 2018, after 22 years in charge, Arsen Wenger was forced to quit as Gunners manager at the end of the season after winning three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups during his reign. Arsenal finished in 6th place that season and current Villarreal boss Unai Emery was brought in as his successor. But in the last days of 2017 another important person came in – Sven Mislintat. The German talent spotter came to the club to become a head of Arsenal’s recruitment after spending years being Borussia Dortmund’s head scout and he was appointed just in that crucial period when Wenger was leaving and Emery was coming. Signings under Sven Mislintat:- Konstantinos Mavropanos- Matteo Guendouzi- Sokratis Papastathopoulos- Bernd Leno- Stephan Lichtsteiner- Henrikh Mkhitaryan- Lucas Torreira- P-E AubameyangWith Leno and likely Torreira leaving, no more. Just hasn’t worked out for most.💎👁️— AfcVIP⁴⁹ (@VipArsenal) August 1, 2022 He stayed until February 2019, and was replaced by current sporting director Edu. With reports that his last two players, Bernt Leno and Lucal Torreira are to be sold to Fulham and Galatasaray in the upcoming days, it would be interesting to wage his success white in Arsenal. Being the head of recruitment, he is naturally to be judged on the players he bought. He had 8 of them, and they costed Arsenal around 178 million euros. After Leno and Torriera are sold, none of his players will remain at the club. The total for which they were sold will be around 30 million. So, his signings resulted in a 148 million minus in the transfer window. Out of that eight players, Arsenal managed to earn only on two of them. But who are they?New focus for Edu: Sell the underperformers at ArsenalLets start from the most famous and popular one – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. He was bought from Mislintat’s former club Borussia for 64 million and was really a proper signing, loved by fans and coaches. But one of them, Mikel Arteta, didn’t want to deal with his off field antiques anymore and the club and their captain said goodbye in a free transfer in January 2022. A loss of 64 million. Bernd Leno was another player from Germany and another success. Sven bought him from Bayer Leverkusen for 25 million and he went on to accumulate 125 matches for Arsenal before the Gunners decide to spend some big money on Aaron Ramsey. Leno is passing his medical and will move to Fulham for 9 million this week. A 16 million loss.Being an Arsenal captain? Better think twice before you accept that dutyHenrikh Mkhitaryan made a swamp with Alexis Sanchez but both man failed to make an impression in their new clubs. The Chilean was mediocre at the Old Trafford, while the Armenian provided just eight goals and eight assists in 39 league appearances. He went to Roma on a loan in 2019 and signed for them permanently. A 34 million loss. A third player brought from Borussia was a Greek defender Sokratis. He had a lot of qualities and even played solid in his first year, but his possession was not a strength. Once Arteta arrived and Arsenal leaned even further into a more possession-based style, Sokratis’ role in the team became untenable. He was released. A loss of 16 million. ‘Pep doesn’t see Chelsea and Arsenal as threats’But, the other Greek was only one of the two players on whom Arsenal actually earned some money. Dinos Mavropanos came for just over 2 million euros and even thou a young defender was seen as one for the future, all he managed was to impress Stuttgart while on loan and they bought him for 3.2 million. A 1 million profit. Lucas Torreira came from Sampdoria for 29 million euros and is one of Sven’s two lasting players. He was OK in his first season, but again, it was Mikel Arteta who demoted him, and the player is set to leave for Galatasaray for 7 million this week. A 22 million loss. Xhaka opens up about his troublesome relationship with the fansAnd we come to Matteo Guendouzi, the most talented of them all. He was and brough from League 2 Lorient for only 8 million and played a great first season, but then…Arteta. The Spaniard moved him from the first team following a clash with Neal Maupay in a 2-1 defeat at Brighton, and was loaned to Hertha, where coach Pal Dardai said he played „adolescent football”. He found his luck with Olympique Marseille and the French giants paid 11 million this season for him. A ’hefty’ 3 million profit. The last of the bunch was Stephan Lichtsteiner, who was so mediocre, that he didn’t leave any trails even in the club’s books. He came as a free agent from Juventus and was released. 0 for performance and 0 for profit.##NAJAVA_MECA_6534050##But if you ask Sven Mislintat, he still defends his players. “They turned up. The team went unbeaten in 22 games in all competitions, made it to the Europa League final and finished fifth with 70 points. You can say that’s not good enough. But many teams would love to finish fifth now“ said the German a few years ago.
