Sven Mislintat has claimed that he wants Arsenal loanee Konstantinos Mavropanos to stay on with Stuttgart beyond the summer, but Arsenal may have other ideas.
The defender broke into the Gunners first-team shortly after his arrival from PAS Giannina as a 20 year-old, with his Premier League debut coming away to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
His call-up was partially down to injuries from those ahead of him in the pecking order, but he earned praise for his performance, and helped his side to keep a clean sheet on his home-debut in a 5-0 win over Burnley, which turned out to be Arsene Wenger’s last game in charge at the Emirates.
The following season was marred by injuries which limited his attempt to gain a run in the first-team, and he fell out of contention under Unai Emery, and eventually joined Nurnberg on loan in January 2020 where he enjoyed a fine run of form before falling foul of another injury.
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After signing a new three-year deal with Arsenal last summer, he was allowed to try his hand on another loan, but this time in the Bundesliga on the recommendation of Sven Mislintat, who played a role in bringing him to Arsenal back in 2018 also, and he has impressed when fit.
Mislintat has confirmed that he hopes to keep him beyond his current loan, but that the Gunners may have other ideas.
“He(Mavropanos) has all the hardware and all the software to be a great defender,” Sven told TheAthletic. “He has been unfortunate, he’s got a lot of injuries. A pubic bone inflammation kept him out more or less for one and a half years. The moment we thought we could play him, he tore his meniscus.
“It’s important for us to get him fully match fit. If he can stabilise physically, he’s undoubtedly a Bundesliga-level defender. He’s one of the fastest centre-backs in the league alongside Dayot Upamecano. A super guy, a model professional.
“You have to admire his energy, all the strength it took to get over his injuries. We’re super happy that he’s been a regular starter in recent weeks. We would like to keep him on loan one more season, if possible. But that will be down to Arsenal.”
With William Saliba also in contention, and the problems the defender has had with injuries that another loan deal would make sense for Arsenal, although there is enough time in the season for the Greek centre-back to convince the club to give him the chance to prove himself in the first-team squad next season.
Patrick