A long engagement: Stuttgart sign Mislintat to contract extension
Recently promoted VfB Stuttgart have locked down one of Germany's most respected footballing administrators through June 2023.
Sporting director Sven Mislintat carries quite the pedigree on his resumé. The 48-year-old worked as chief scout for the regimes of both Jürgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel in his eight-year-tenure with Borussia Dortmund.
His knack for finding players earned him enough respect that EPL giant Arsenal FC summoned him to the Isle to begin the task of re-building the Gunners following Arsene Wegner's departure. After two years abroad, he returned to the continent to assist relegation-threatened VfB Stuttgart in the spring of 2019.
Mislintat may not be a familiar name to those outside German footballing circles, but he is considered one of the best in the business by fans in the Bundesrepublik; a perfect post-modern sporting director who combines in-person scouting with the most sophisticated and effective data models to build highly successful squads. The work he has already done with VfB Stuttgart speaks for itself.
In a statement on the club's website, Mislintat called it a "huge challenge and a great honor" to work at the Baden-Württemberg based club. Humble as ever, he acknowledged that there may be further setbacks while also vowing to continue "positive sporting developments" over the next two-and-a-half years. Club boss Thomas Hitzlsperger also issued a statement.
"Sven has driven the re-structuring of our squad with great motivation, perseverance, courage, and foresight," Hitzlsperger wrote, "Our promotion back to the Bundesliga and the uplifting start to the new season are a direct result of the work that Sven, along with Pellegrino Matarazzo and Markus Rüdt, do for the VfB day-in and day-out."