There was the breaking news earlier from Sky that Arsenal were getting close to their first signing of the winter transfer window, and now it is finally confirmed from Wenger himself that Konstantinos Mavropanos is to be the latest “one for the future” to join the Gunners from PAS Giannina, who are currently in sixth place in the Greek Superleague. He is obviously very well thought of in his home country and there were rumours that Olympiakos were also interested in signing him if Arsenal hadn’t come in with a good offer,
He is big and strong and has done extremely well considering he has only been in the first team for just over a year and was even named Man Of The Match when Giannina took on AEK Athens this season. After winning that award Mavropanos said: “I am very happy that my effort and performance are rewarded with this prize.
“I waited for the whole year to be given the opportunity. I was handed a chance in the final game and I think my performance was good enough with the help of my team-mates, and the guidance and the instructions they gave me. It was what I expected and maybe more because they helped me settle into the group. Through my team-mates I try to improve myself.”
Surely he can only improve more at Arsenal, and Wenger himself confirmed that he will become a Gunner very soon. The boss said today when asked about whether we were signing Mavropanos: “Yes. But he is not ready to play for us. We will give him out on loan.”
The rumours have suggested he will going to the Bundesliga side Werder Bremen for more training in a better League although it is a fact that the Greek sides are very defence orientated, as we have seen over the years, and it is a good training ground for defenders.
You never know this could be an excellent signing for Arsenal at a very reasonable £1.8m on a long term contract. We know we need a top experienced centre-back right now, but we also need to look to the future…
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