ARSENAL HAVE COMPLETED the signing of centre-back Konstantinos Mavropanos from PAS Giannina for a fee in the region of £1.8 million.
The 20-year-old broke into the Super League side’s first-team towards the end of the season before cementing his place in the starting XI this term, but has already attracted interest from Greek giants Olympiakos and the Premier League side.
The Gunners have won the race for him in the January transfer window due their new chief scout Sven Mislintat having close links with the player’s agent from his time at Borussia Dortmund.
Mislintat, who identified and scouted the player, is expected to focus heavily on bringing the best young players to Arsenal, and Mavropanos’ arrival could be the start of several sought after European talents signing for Arsene Wenger’s side this season.
Mavropanos would follow his compatriots Panagiotis Retsos, Kostas Manolas and Sokratis Papastathopoulos to Europe where the hope is that he develops into a ready-made Premier League player in the coming seasons.
The42 has just published its first book, Behind The Lines, a collection of some of the year’s best sports stories. Pick up your copy in Eason’s, or order it here today (€10):
