Arsenal’s head scout brought in Konstantinos Mavropanos in the January window.
Arsenal’s new head of recruitment, Sven Mislintat, is nicknamed “diamond-eye” for a reason. His ability to spot top-class talents in the nooks and crannies of world football has become infamous, especially when he joined Arsenal earlier this season. The signing of young Greek defender, Konstantinos Mavropanos, was Mislintat’s first contribution to the Gunners. This was seen as a bit of a surprise, seeing as Mavropanos wasn’t on the radar of many fans.
The 6’4 centre-back slotted into the Arsenal U23’s and hasn’t looked back since.
First, his height, a whopping 6’4, is near perfect for a centre-back. He isn’t small whatsoever, so he rarely ever loses a physical or aerial duel. Yet, he isn’t tall enough to seem lanky and slow either. He’s at the perfect height and physicality for his position.
To be a top centre-back however, you must also possess the brains, and it’s fair to say that Mavropanos has plenty of it. In the U23’s this season he was revered for his fantastic reading of the game and last-ditch efforts. Although the U23’s is of course not the most prestigious league, these are very promising signs for a player who is still just 20.
Mavropanos is good enough already to feature in the Arsenal first team.
Mavropanos is already rumoured to be featuring in first-team football next season, which is incredible seeing as he has just made the move from the Greek Superleague. Although this first-team football isn’t guaranteed to be at the Emirates, he could very well be on loan next season. It’s a promising sign for the Gunners, who have struggled mightily in defence this year. Having a good prospect such as Mavropanos is something to truly look forward to.
Arsenal’s U23 team are on the verge of winning the PL2 title, and Mavropanos has only lost 1 of the 5 matches he has partaken in. No coincidence whatsoever that he seems to bring plenty of stability and confidence to his team. This is something Arsenal are seriously lacking in the first team.
Konstantinos Mavropas seems to have everything in his locker needed to become a good centre-back at the the top level. It just remains to be seen how Arsenal plan on using him from now onwards.
