Arsenal's head of recruitment, Sven Mislintat, has lauded Ousmane Dembele as a "special player" amid rumours linking the north London club with a move for the disgruntled Barcelona winger.

Dembele joined Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund for £106million in summer of 2017, but has failed to live up to expectations at Camp Nou.

Mislintat, who recruited the 21-year-old for Dortmund from Stade Rennes, believes he remains a talented prospect and compared him to former Manchester United midfielder Shinji Kagawa.

"I saw him, he had not even played for Stade Rennes in the first team," he told Zeit. "I bet he did not know which foot he used in certain situations because he just did not think about it.

"I felt this is a really special player. Shinji Kagawa was one of those. We were in Japan ten times, but actually I was safe after the first 30 minutes of play. Nobody could grab it. With one move, he changed the entire direction of the game."