Ajax appoint Sven Mislintat as director of football after Julian Ward turned down the opportunity

Ajax have confirmed they have appointed Sven Mislintat as their new director of football. 

The 50-year-old has signed a contract at the Johan Cruyff Arena until June 2026. 

The Dutch giants reportedly preferred to hire Julian Ward, who is set to leave his position at Liverpool at the end of the season. 

However, the 41-year-old rejected the opportunity to become their director of football. 

The Eredivisie outfit switched their attention to Mislintat and have now agreed a deal with him. 

The German previously worked as head of scouting and head of professional football at Borussia Dortmund from 2006 to 2017. 

He then left the Signal Iduna Park to join Arsenal as their chief scout in November 2017. 

But his stint with the Gunners wasn’t very successful, with most of his signings failing to make an impact at the Emirates Stadium. 

During his 18 months at the club, Mislintat brought in the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi. 

But all his recruits have left the club as his successor Edu has overseen Mikel Arteta’s squad rebuild. 

The Brazilian’s signings have played a pivotal role in Arsenal’s Premier League title push this season. 

Mislintat worked as the sporting director at Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart until he left his role in November last year. 

He has been appointed as the director of football at Ajax, who look set to miss out on the league title this season with Feyenoord currently eight points clear at the top.