Unai Emery admits he does not know if Sven Mislintat will be staying on in what is shaping up to be a difficult January transfer window for Arsenal.
Goal revealed on Wednesday that the Gunners are set to lose their highly-rated head of recruitment.
A little over a year after being brought onto the staff at Emirates Stadium, Mislintat is edging towards the exits.
He had been keen to take on a new technical director role in north London, but Arsenal are looking elsewhere for somebody to fill that position.
With his influence over additions seemingly set to be limited, Mislintat – who enjoyed considerable success in a previous role at Borussia Dortmund - is being heavily linked with a return to the Bundesliga at Bayern Munich.
Gunners boss Emery claims he is unable to shed any light on whether such a move will be made, with the Spaniard still trying to put winter plans in place.
He told reporters on the Mislintat speculation: “I was working with him the last two weeks, we had two or three meetings together.
“We are working normally. I don’t know other issues. I don’t know [if he’s leaving].
“My relationship about transfers is we’ve been speaking about that for the last two, three weeks.”
While Emery has held discussions regarding possible additions, he admits bringing fresh faces to Arsenal will be difficult.
He has already conceded that he will have no money for permanent additions, forcing him to seek out loan deals for the likes of Barcelona midfielder Denis Suarez.
Emery added on the situation he faces in January: “It is not easy to take players who can help us with better performances than we already have.
“The club is working, I spoke with [Mislintat] about different possibilities but it’s not easy to take players who can help us with big performances now.”
Arsenal would welcome additions to their ranks if the necessary quality at the right price can be found.
They have slipped six points adrift of the Premier League’s top four, with a resurgent Manchester United having pulled level with them in the battle for Champions League qualification.
The Gunners will, however, get the chance to force themselves back into the mix on Saturday when they play host to London rivals Chelsea – the side sat directly above them in the table at present.