New signing Konstantinos Mavropanos joined Arsenal this month as a youngster with potential, but is now touted to be thrust into the first-team squad.
The 20 year-old joined from Greek side PAS Giannina last week in a reported £2 Million deal, and was expected to be sent straight out on loan following Arsene Wenger’s comments on his unveiling, but the Frenchman has since changed his thoughts.
The young centre-back has impressed so much in his opening training sessions that Wenger is now keen to keep him with the squad, and even claims the new signing will play a part in the current campaign.
This could well be a huge positive for new Arsenal Head of Recruitment Sven Mislintat, whose first signing has already outdone Arsene Wenger’s expectations after only one day with the youngster.
The former Borussia Dortmund Head Scout is known for his part in bringing previously unknown players to the German club prior to them becoming regular household names, including the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Robert Lewandowski, Ousmane Dembele and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and he may have already unearthed a gem who could go on to play at the top level for years to come.
“I personally want to keep him until May, to know him better, to assess his level,” said Wenger, who named the defender on the bench against Chelsea on Wednesday night.
“The first signs he has shown in training are so encouraging that I decided to keep him until May.”
With constant injury and fitness problems with Shkodran Mustafi, Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny, inexperienced duo Rob Holding and Calum Chambers have been called upon to play in first-team roles, but neither have been overwhelmingly impressive, and we could well see Mavropanos make his debut in the near future.
Does Mislintat’s arrival give more hope to our future than has been said thus far? Could Mavropanos overhaul Holding and Chambers in the pecking order this term?
Pat J