What to know about Arsenal's Greek prodigy

22 feb 2018

While Arsenal’s January transfer window will be remembered by the wider football world for the signings of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, the arrival of a 20-year-old Greek defender in north London sent shockwaves through his homeland.

Konstantinos Mavropanos had only made two appearances for Greek Super League side PAS Giannina going into the 2017-18 season but his impressive performances saw the likes of Olympiakos and Udinese scramble over his signature. However, it was Arsenal that surprised many and secured his signature in December.

The man who discovered him, Vasilis Stachtiaris - an agent spoke about what Arsenal can expect.

It's not in his favour that he played just 17 games with PAS Giannina in Greek Super League but he is an asset for Arsenal and the club must protect him and invest in his talent.

For example, [Greek defender Stathis] Tavlaridis didn't develop in Arsenal, so, anything can happen in football. It's only around 35 per cent [of players] that achieve success.

“Mavropanos’ story so far is similar to [Bayer Leverkusen midfielder] Retsos. They both played about 15 games in Greece and then moved to major leagues.