Quite a lot of Arsenal fans will have forgotten all about Konstantinos Mavropanos.
And who can blame them?
The big Greek centre-back hasn’t played a competitive game for Arsenal since May of 2019 and was sent on loan to Nurnberg in the second tier of German football back in January.
But could he suddenly be back in the picture in North London this summer? It’s very possible.
It’s very possible because two centre-backs could be leaving the Gunners: David Luiz’s future at the club is reportedly very uncertain, after his shocker at the Etihad on Wednesday, and the same applies to Pablo Mari who picked up a serious injury and a permanent move now seems doubtful.
Thing is, Mikel Arteta probably won’t have a lot of money to sign replacements and therefore promotion from within might be necessary, which is where Mavropanos comes in.
If Luiz and Mari aren’t there, Mavropanos has two less obstacles between him and a role under Arteta and although the Spaniard would still have Rob Holding, Shkodran Mustafi, William Saliba and Sokratis Papastathopoulos as centre-back options, the 22-year-old must feel a bit more hopeful about fashioning a career for himself at Arsenal than he did earlier this week.
Arteta makes his decisions based on the players’ application in training, evident by the fact Mesut Ozil was omitted from the 20-man squad on Wednesday.
And if Mavropanos returns from Germany and brings the same energy and attitude to London Colney as Eddie Nketiah does for example, then maybe, just maybe, it isn’t too late.
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