When Arsenal purchased 20-year-old Konstantinos Mavropanos from PAS Giannina for a fee of £1.9m, eyebrows were raised.
Another youngster in a position that is flawed, another unproven prospect, another one for the future, were probably a few of the more predictable comments.
Fans were expecting an experienced player to shore up the back line and someone who had played for an established club, but PAS Giannina sounded like a Greek airline or a stationary outlet.
The fact that the Greek youngster was the first of Sven Mislintat recommendations, goes some way to vindicating the transfer and implies that ‘diamond eye’ has uncovered another top-rated player in an area where the North London club are borderline incompetent.
The word from the Emirates confirms that Mavropanos is making great progress and may well feature regularly next season.
He is said to be athletic, strong, and has great positional awareness. He is a natural ball winner, can defend resolutely and score the occasional goal. At 6 feet 4 inches, he is a fairly imposing character and those watching the Greek under 21-year-old International in training, believe that he will be a major star in the future.
Greek journalist Dimitris Samolis told Star Sport:
‘Mavropanos has the power and agility to succeed at the highest level and believes he can become one of Greece’s ‘great defenders’ in the near future.
He added: “The biggest advantage of Mavropanos is his body. Tall player and powerful.
“Although he is tall, he is also fast and agile. He is very good with the head, since he can score 5-6 goals per season.’
With Arsenal’s recent problems at the back , perhaps Wenger will promote the rising star to the first team in a rejuvenated defence. There will be one or two additions in the summer which may include Bayer Leverkusen shot-stopper Bernd Leno and Roma’s Kostas Manolas.
