By Ewah Chika.
The Real Reason Either Of Sven Mislintat (BVB Chief Scout) And Thomas Tuchel Will Quit Borussia Dortmund In The Summer.
"Do not put two strong personalities in the same staff," were the words of Noel Le Graet the French Football Federation (FFF) President as the reason former Arsenal and French legend Thierry Henry was not drafted into Didier Deschamps back room team.
With reports from Germany, it seems Le Graet's advice would probably do Borussia Dortmund a big favour as the tussle for supremacy and superiority continues between head coach Thomas Tuchel and Chief Scout Sven Mislintat (43).
According to reports, Tuchel might be on his way out of BVB by the end of the season following the expiration of his contract which has 18 months to run. Having taken over a team low on confidence and underachieving following the near relegation in the 2014/2015 season under Jurgen Klopp, Tuchel has gradually returned the club to where it belongs (echelon of German football) having reached the Champions League final in 2013 and winning the Bundesliga twice under Klopp. Last season, BVB were free scoring, running Bayern Munich close and reaching the quarter-final of the Europa League before losing out to Liverpool away in injury time after winning the first leg 2-0 in Ruhr.
At the centre of the power tussle is Chief Scout Sven Mislintat who joined Dormund as a scout in July 2007. The German is the man credited with the gradual rise of the club behind the scenes following his spotting and pressure on the club to sign World beaters Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£12 million from Saint-Etienne), Shinji Kagawa (£300,000-Cerezo Osaka) and Robert Lewandowski (£3 million - ). It did not end there as Mislintat is also credited with spotting of star man Ousmane Dembele in August 2015 (three months before his senior debut for Rennes) and enticing him by taking his mother Fatimata on a tour of BVB training ground long before the then 18- year-old exploded unto the scene scoring 12 goals and creating five assists in his debut season (last season) which is more than any debutant has done in Ligue 1 for 25 years.
"BVB tried very early to get me and always kept in close contact with me, this behaviour left me really impressed," Dembele said after his signing for less than €7 million in the summer. It did not end there as Mislintat is also credited with the sporting of Turkish young sensation Emre Mor from Danish club Nordsjaelland for less than €3 million just six months after making his senior debut for the Danish club. As one not to be outdone, the German went further to woo European winner and Portuguese utility left-footer Raphael Guerreiro from Lorient despite the lurking around of a host of top clubs like Arsenal and Liverpool.
Despite all these signings, Tuchel and Mislintat's relationship appears beyond repair after the chief scout ignored Tuchel's plea to sign 21-year-old Oliver Torres in the summer considering he was Tuchel's top summer priority signing. Tuchel it is reported, earmarked the Spaniard as Henrik Mkhitaryan's successor even before the end of last season as the Armenian refused to sign an extension with BVB. Torres had performed admirably well while on loan in F.C Porto and was on his way back to parent club Atletico Madrid before Diego Simeone put him up on loan for the second time forcing Porto to re-sign him for a second loan a week before the end of the transfer deadline as Mislintat and BVB continued to drag their feet. In Torres' place, the chief scout convinced the club to sign both Andre Schurlle from Wolfsburg and Mario Gotze from Bayern Munich (three years after Gotze disappointed fans by signing for rivals Bayern Munich and struggling in Bavaria).
Sensing the problem in Dortmund, Hamburg have offered the prominent scout a position as their Technical Director in a bid to lure him to Hamburg in order to restore the former European Champion's glory days. Although Mislintat's contract runs until 2019, Dortmund's Sporting Director and Mislintat's close confidant Michael Zorc has offered the scout a high position in Dortmund, making him superior in authority to Tuchel in order to keep him at the club.
The irony of the whole issue is that this new position is seen as the final straw by Tuchel as he is already considering leaving Dortmund by the end of the summer if Mislintat does not depart the club. It is still unknown how the power tussle will eventually play out but one thing is sure and that is 'Come next summer, BVB is more likely to lose either of their two prized assets,' going by the unfolding events.
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