Sven Minislat made his first signing for Arsenal when he persuaded the club to sign Konstantinos Mavropanos from Gianna in Greece. At the time Arsene Wenger told the media that the 20 year-old was not fit and ready to play in England yet and would be immediately sent out on loan.
But after watching the youngster in training he has now changed his mind and he will be staying with the club for the rest of this season. “He looked comfortable technically, he looks very mobile as a defender and he looks very pacy and strong in all aspects of defending,” the Arsenal manager said.
“What I don’t know yet is how well he’ll cope with pressure, how much his lack of experience will be detrimental to his performances.
“When you go to a big club, every game and every mistake is analysed. Every action you take in the game is analysed, so you’re under scrutiny and that puts a huge pressure on you. If you make a mistake in a smaller league for a smaller club, it’s less of a story than it would be at a big club.
“We will see [how he copes with that] that in the games and I haven’t seen him play in England against an English team yet. I have to see that. Personally, I am encouraged by what I’ve seen and I’ve decided to keep him until May.
“Greece is a fantastic sporting country. Their basketball and football is absolutely amazing. They have a real knowledge of team sport and they produce fantastic players. He can be one of them from what I’ve seen, if he develops well.
“He looks like an intelligent boy as well, so let’s hope he will develop into a great player in the future for Greece.”
So just a couple of weeks after arriving n England Mavropanos made his U23 debut for the Gunners against Man United last night, and not only did we massacre them 4-0 but he helped keep a clean sheet, not that the United reserves game them too many problems.
With the injuries to Monreal and Koscielny and a weak performance by their stand-ins at the weekend, Mavropanos may even find himself making his senioe debut very quickly indeed!
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