Despite being part of the first-team squad, Emile Smith Rowe and Konstantinos Mavropanos found themselves on the periphery of proceedings in the first half of the season, with neither player featuring prominently.
It was anticipated that they could both be sent out on loan in January, and that is what occurred, with Smith Rowe heading to Huddersfield Town and Mavropanos linking up with Nuremberg.
It is still early days, but both players are certainly benefitting from receiving regular playing time at their temporary clubs so far.
Smith Rowe, for instance, has linked play to excellent effect at Huddersfield and it is hoped that he can avoid injuries for the remainder of the campaign as he looks to build up momentum.
Mavropanos, meanwhile, is playing in the second tier of German football and has earned many plaudits for his performances.
There have been times over the past year or so when it appeared that his chances of succeeding at Arsenal may have been over but he is now demonstrating that he can perform consistently.
It will be intriguing to see what happens with both players next season.
If Smith Rowe continues to excel then he could well find himself in Mikel Arteta’s plans.
Mavropanos’ situation is rather more complicated as he has a host of players ahead of him, but he is trying his utmost to show that he could have a future at the club.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
Hugely excited for Smith-Rowe. Was easily one of the most exciting players in the early days of emery. Hope he can come back and find fitness and consistency, despite the other plays of a similar age, he has something a bit different that could help us greatly with Ozil ageing
ESR would be the best surprise for the team next season. Just needs a large dose of confidence.
I’m still hopeful for Mavropanos.
Lots of competition, but there’s every chance as all 3 of Mustafi, Luiz & Sok will be entering the last year of their contracts. I’m also not convinced Chambers will now succeed, sadly as the injury means he’s out of mind for a while.
It leaves our idea 4 CB spots for the long term down to Mari, Saliba, Holding & possibly Mavropanos.
Not a bad prospect eh? I mean, imagine a CB pairing of Saliba and Holding. Or any combination of the four.
I really like the tenacity of Mavropanos. He is extremely fearless going into tackles. All he needs is a bit of calmness on the ball and good decision making. With time, I think his game will come good for us. Hopefully by the start of next season.
Is the 2nd tier in Germany a bit low for Mavrapanos?
Whilst any regular game time is good, It doesn’t seem like enough of a challenge?. Everyone ahead of him (Chambers, Holding, Saliba) have played at a higher level.
I feel the fact that he was an unknown quantity before Arsenal signed him likely necessitated a 2nd division loan for regular game time. Personally IMHO, regular game time for half a season will go a long way in helping him recover fully from his injuries and letting trust his body without placing the challenges of a top tier club in that time. With Sokratis, Luiz and Mustafi around one more season, we don’t need him to be ready to play at PL level until 2021 so it’s probably best we build his fitness and confidence gradually.
Agreed that injuries seem to have been his main issue so far. Fingers crossed he has a great loan and comes back ready to challenge at CB.
Not sure why the down votes. Your question seems like a fair one to me. I think he just needed to play against other men that rely on the game to make their living. It will be interesting to see what Mikel can do with him. It seems like he could be at least as good as some of the Centerbacks that Man City has trotted out the last few years.
I feel like it could be better for his confidence to play for a higher 2nd division team as a defender of his stature, than a low/relegation fodder in the Bundesliga proper?
He hadn’t played for the best part of a year, I think it was a good move to send him to a club where he would be starting most games, at a lower level, than sitting on the bench of a more competitive club. He will get his confidence and fitness back by playing, and so far the loan seems to be working well for him. He’s a very good young footballer and one for the future, so we have time to build him back up.
This will be good for them. In fact I mentioned Mavropanos needed to be out on loan two seasons ago. It gives the younger ambitious players (particularly Cbacks) opportunity to have consistent playing time, make mistakes and learn but critically not at our expense.to season. Mavropanos AND Saliba should both be in frame for first team next season pending performance on loan particularly for Mavro. he’s 23yrs now so not young and should be kicking on. Smith-Rowe also has oppportunity in the hole with Ozil creeping into final season. We frankly need to move on from the German. Also in… Read more »
Oh you mentioned it? Did you? Really?
This is not Santori obviously because there’s no mention of Emre Can. Imposter I say
I can’t move past that haircut…
I assumed it was a wig. I just couldn’t figure out why.
He should plait it and then he’d be Emile Smith Corn-Rowe
I really had to fight my instinct to down vote you lol
Even if they end up elsewhere, at least they are playing which is what they must want. It can only improve them and hone their skills. Hopefully they return better and seasoned professionals and contribute to our team.
Both good loan moves imo
Smith-Rowe is exciting to watch, definitely one for the future. I hope he get’s another season on loan with them so when he comes back he’ll have a tone of experience already at a young age.
Mavropanos is already their best player by far according to Whoscored, although he has only played four games for them. Not bad though, considering Nurnberg were playing in the Bundesliga last season so he’s already outperforming players with Bundesliga experience. Already two clean sheets and two motm so far, we shouldn’t give up on him just yet.
https://imgur.com/a/gUJ28LW