Mislintat lifts lid on Arsenal transfer strategy shift which led him away from the Emirates

Sven Mislintat has offered an alarming assessment of Arsenal's recruitment strategy, with the transfer specialist revealing that broken promises and a change in direction led him away from the club.

The German was appointed by the Gunners in November 2017.

He left that role in February 2018 after helping to oversee deals for the likes of Matteo Guendouzi, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bernd Leno.

Mislintat claims that he had been promised a role as technical director by Arsenal chiefs prior to his departure, with Edu having since been brought back to north London in that post.

Having been denied an opportunity he craved, a man famed for his ability to get shrewd deals over the line claims that the Gunners have moved away from operating independently and have instead placed greater trust in player agents.

He told Freunde 11: "Last summer there were leadership changes at Arsenal.

"It had actually been agreed that I would become technical director, so then I would be around the team on a daily basis.

"But the new leadership had their own agenda and other candidates. On top of that, we had different approaches.

"Previously we had a strong systematic approach to transfers, a mixture of watching things live as well as quality data and video analysis. Arsenal actually owns their own data company.

"That meant that we acted independently, we knew about all markets and players in all positions that came into question.

"However, the new leadership work more strongly with what they are offered from clubs or agents through their own networks."

Arsenal have endured a quiet summer transfer window in 2019 so far.

A deal has been wrapped up for promising youngster Gabriel Martinelli, but he has been the only arrival as things stand.

Celtic full-back Kieran Tierney has been identified as a top target, but the Gunners are yet to table an offer which is deemed acceptable by the Scottish champions.

They are understood to be closing in on an agreement for St Etienne defender William Saliba, with interest from arch-rivals Tottenham fended off in that chase.

Competition from Spurs is also hampering their pursuit of Real Madrid midfielder Dani Ceballos, with Unai Emery hoping that positive news on the recruitment front will soon be delivered at the Emirates Stadium.