Inter Milan reportedly made a €15m (£12m) bid to sign VfB Stuttgart defender Konstantinos Mavropanos in January, a player Arsenal had just sold last summer for as little as €2m (£1.7m).
According to Bild, the Serie A giants made a late offer to sign the Greek international in the winter market, an ‘audacious’ bid that was rejected by Stuttgart given how late it arrived in the window, with the German side not having the time to find a replacement.
Mavropanos is set to leave Stuttgart this summer with the Bundesliga club currently in a relegation battle and one of the biggest sides in Germany currently undergoing mass financial problems, meaning that the 25-year-old defender could be sold at the end of the season.
The Wolfsburger Allgemeine Aller-Zeitung have already reported that VfL Wolfsburg have made an offer to sign Mavropanos, yet with news now breaking that Inter also made a January bid for the former Arsenal man, a transfer battle could soon spark between the two clubs.
Indeed, whilst Stuttgart are set to make a major profit from Mavropanos, Arsenal are once again losers from this deal, with the north London side missing out on yet another big payday due to their own incompetence when it comes to selling young players.
Aside from academy products Alex Iwobi and Joe Willock, many Arsenal fans would agree that the Gunners have undersold many top prospects, with Mavropanos’ £1.7m move to Stuttgart last summer arguably the worst offender alongside Matteo Gunedouzi’s move to Olympique Marseille or the sale of Serge Gnabry to Werder Bremen.
Inter signing Mavropanos would sting for Arsenal in a big way
Mavropanos always had the quality to reach the highest level, and with news now coming out that Inter made a bid for the former Arsenal star, Mikel Arteta’s side will be feeling the pressure if the Nerazzurri manage to sign the defender in the summer window.
As we know, Arsenal undersold Mavropanos massively last year, and with one of Europe’s biggest clubs now interested in the centre-back, the north London side could be left with egg on their face if the 25-year-old signs for Inter at the end of this season.
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