Arsenal have confirmed that Dinos Mavropanos will continue his development in Germany after signing a one-year loan deal with Stuttgart.
The Greece under-21 international has spent the last six months with second-tier outfit FC Nurnberg helping them to a dramatic last-gasp escape from relegation.
A number of Bundesliga clubs were said to be interested in signing him this summer but it’s our former head of scouting, Sven Mislintat, who has persuaded the 22-year-old defender to sign up at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
‘Diamond Eye’, who was responsible for signing Mavropanos for us from Greek side PAS Giannina in January 2018, took up a role as sporting director at Stuttgart just over a year ago and has helped engineer their return to the country’s top flight after a year in the second tier.
Before completing his loan, Mavropanos signed a new deal at the Emirates. He was under contract until 2023 and we suspect we’ve added another year to protect his market value should we want to sell him in a year’s time.
We wish Dinos all the best in Germany. It’s time to place your bets on which defender will be next out of the door…
Good luck to the lad.
I have a feeling he’ll either fetch us good money when sold or play for us in the near future. I am hoping he’ll finally announce himself to the world next season.
.. and then there were eight!
Actually it would have been pretty easy. Don’t extend Luiz’ contract and sell Mustafi and Sokratis. Then we would have Holding, Chambers, Mari, Saliba and Zech as number 5. Sounds like something Mik could work with to me.
It seems so simple to me too…
What makes it difficult, I think, is that CB are no longer just defenders, like Sokratis. Teams with ambition require the ability to make the right pass, to the right player, at the right time. When Arsenal do that, of late, we win. When we make stupid live ball turnovers our defensive weaknesses become enlarged. Good defenders need to be poised and patient most of the time on offense and defense but must occasionally be fearless and right on offense. We have no idea if Holding, Chambers, Mari, Saliba and Zech can do that even irregularly given the pressure opponents… Read more »
I feel like Chambers has proven to be very composed and reliable on the ball, but doesn’t have the same vision or range of passing as Luiz
live ball turnovers? gibberish
I can’t think of a player we have who’s been more affected by the introduction of VAR than Sokratis. All those old-school-defender tactics, little pushes and tugs – which were a big part of what made him (reasonably) effective – now make him a liability. Why Arteta doesn[‘t trust Holding on the other hand, is baffling to me. Of the current lot I think Chambers has the most to offer provided he gets over the ACL injury, his year in midfield at Fulham showed he’s more than capable of withstanding a high press. I actually wonder if he could fill… Read more »
I agree with the assessment of Sokratis, and I also think a big part of it with him is just he’s not great at starting play from the back..think Kolasinac but even more limited.
I want Chambers to get a shot, and I think he will. He has it all, except much athleticism, but in a back 3 it works
I don’t think Medley has shown anything close enough to be considered first team, Chambers is coming of a ligament injury, Holding also and Mari has played 2 games for us.
What you said could still happen, with Luiz as the fifth guy, though I see Mustafi staying more likely then both Holding/Chambers.
I’m not sure if Zech is close to being good enough for the first team. But to give him a few games in the cups would be a good way to find out. Mari has obviously impressed Arteta in training as he was the main man against City after the break so I trust Mik on this one. Holding has played 74 games for us and has been pretty promising in a lot of them. And no, I don’t see us giving Mustafi a new contract and am pretty sure he will be moved on in the summer, while I’m… Read more »
it really doesn’t look too much like something Mik could work with. It looks more and more like fan favourites. You are basically saying get rid of guys who have had a full season or more as regulars in the team and bank on guys who haven’t got a single season as regulars for us and rely on them right away. Painful as it is for us fans watching the team this low and hoping for a quick fix, you will be surprised how much People like Holding look up to Luiz, Mustafi and Papa. These are senior pros who’ve… Read more »
I agree with you that they are experienced but not with too much after that. We want to get back to the top , so we need world class players at the back like we did back in the day. Plus like arteta said the competition is different today it’s alot harder even to make the top 4. My point being the youth need to be learning from players at the top of their craft that’s would usually makes a world class player. David Luiz, sokratis , mustafi are not good enough to teach them world class things. Just look… Read more »
The problem is that they have started converting left-back to keeo the numbers up now. Both Kolasinac and Tierney have played central defence.
Wish him all the best! Surely Sokratis is next. If I was the boss I would get rid of Mustafi, Kolasinac and Luiz as well. Get in Upamecano to partner Saliba. Mari, Chambers, Holding and the academy kids to act as backup.
Upamecano is so out of our price range, unless we sell a lot of players for a lot of money. But even then, we’d still need at least another midfielder, too.
If we could get the be quality signing in defence I would be happy. Then follow up next year with a midfield signing once Ozil’s wages are off the books. We have some good youngsters and time to rebuild. I would rather we do it one step at a time and get it right than go for mediocre players across a few positions. I think our defence needs fixing sooner than our midfield. Maybe sign Ceballos on a loan for another season with commitment to buy at the end.
Guendouzi will most certainly be off, Özil will play no role, regardless if he’s still around next season or not, Ainsley is also considering to move on in order to get more game time. And as we have no clause in the Ceballos deal, this is not in our hands at all.
So that would leave us with Xhaka, Torreira, Elneny, Willock and Smith-Rowe as midfielders. That’s a hell of a thin midfield.
With those players we’ve been overrun in midfield too many times the last couple of seasons. Ceballos at 25m is a no-brainer for me, unless they’re looking at someone they think will fit even better. Ha. But we MUST have a technically adept midfielder on the pitch. Although I think he’s still a little bit adapting this league, he’s the most technical we’ve got. Then with the other departures/absences you mention, we need at least one more solid midfielder. I’ll be shocked if both AMN and Doozie are still here next season. I really miss the days when we had… Read more »
sokratis is a better defender than luiz and mustafi.
Pre-VAR I’d have largely agreed, certainly more consistent.
I hope we have extended luiz’s contract so that we can sell him to chelsea for 20m. Chelsea almost always buys back luiz.
Escuse me but Do you know anything about football or Arsenal ? ?♀️
£5 on Sokratis being next 🙂
With a fiver you can probably buy him…
May I ask why you dont rate him? He has by far the best def skills in our team? What error or performance exactly do you recall since he joined us ?
He old. End of.
Well. Defenders peak later. Plus if you recall he was the third faster player when he arrived behind Auba and Hector. Please name one successful team that had 20yo defenders.
I agree I rate him, but he is pure no nonsense defender but I think mikel wants a ball playing centre half and socrates doesn’t give us that.
Yes. With this statement I agree. But then you see in the team Kolasinac. I cant call him ball playing either
With Sven being at Stuttgart, I think that means Dinos will be a regular in the Bundesliga next season (at least that will be their plan). He could have a serious future with Arsenal if he plays his cards right.
And avoids injury, too.
Might have a better chance with injuries!
Assuming he still wants to. I think rightly he would feel he wasn’t given enough chances and support at his time here so far.
That red card didn’t help! Does happen to inexperienced youngsters though, Eddie recently, Frimpong against Liverpool…
I follow him on IG, and he’s always seemed to be the first person to “like” every single Arsenal post by the club or the players…It’s not really saying much but i get the feeling he wants to come back.
Happy that it’s a loan deal, hope he can get a full year of playing under his belt and come back to us ready to play with Saliba and our other younger defenders. I still think we need to bring in a good more senior defender to replace Luiz or Mustafi.
I have no idea if he’s any good.
I like the more professional way that the club are handling loans now, picking the right clubs and extending contracts, no more Gnabry type loans.
The biggest issue for Mavropanos has been staying fit as potentially he’s a very good defender and who knows how good he could be in a years time if he can get a full season in the Bundesliga in the tank.
What a way to let a future world class winger slip through our fingers, sending him to Tony Pulis for the last 12 months of his contract
J.F.C.
So he’s a 22 year old playing for under 21s
So wait? Was this guy never good enough for Arsenal or what? Loan after Loan and yet a 22 year old defender that should be growing into his career is still being loaned around?
We are currently short of quality defenders, If this guy isn’t good enough, sell him and recruit someone else. He’s been on our books for a while but sparingly on the team sheet.
“ He’s been on our books for a while but sparingly on the team sheet.”
Martinez says hello.
Has Martinez been better than Leno? I know it’s only been a few games but I really like how commanding he is. He catches the ball a lot more than Leno, I really like that.
I can’t imagine Leno screaming at a player as experienced and decorated as Luiz not to go up for a corner. Hopefully seeing how well Emi’s doing toughens Leno up a bit in that regard, although his distribution still concerns me.
He isn’t good enough currently no. He has played for us but has looked a little lost but that’s why loans are for, to get experience. If Saka hadn’t played this season, your logic would of been sell him, since he has been with us 10 years and hardly played.
Let’s hope it works for him and we either get a great defender back, or a good price for him
No. Saka was a youngster coming though the ranks. I remember when Mavro was signed, he was signed to be intergrated slowly into the first team but it never happened. If Saliba, a 19 year old defender is being welcomed into the squad next season, I see no reason why Mavro should be loaned out at this stage. If he’s not going to cut it, we have to try and recoup our losses and push for a permanent deal. I expect the club to be smarter in their transfer dealings. We have so many defenders but only one or two… Read more »
Nope. Mavropanos was signed to be loaned but Wenger ended up deciding to keep him around the first season as he impressed him in training. He only played a little bit though. He had a lot of problems with injury and looked vulnerable when he came back. He clearly needed a loan. Reports are that he’s done well this season so he might be on the up. 22 is very young for a central defender (yes I know Saliba is younger but Saliba is apparently special) so it makes sense to extend the contract and give him another year on… Read more »
Its tough developing as a Cback…often times, this position is high responsibility and requires some experience. OR the opportunity to make some mistakes without as high stake consequence as at our club. Which is why I felt the better way to have developed Mavropanos for a while now was to secure strong loans for him to play regularly and make those learning curve mistakes at someone-else’s expense. We don’t have a development club like RB Liepzig in Salzburg to channel through our younger players but perhaps one interesting option for us to develop is to have an affiliated sister club… Read more »
That’s another reason we badly need Europa League next year, we’ve got a lot of young players who need competitive games.
He was also signed for very little – £2m I believe, and would recoup a similarly low amount if we sold him now
1 decent season in the Bundesliga and he’s either an option for us, or would fetch £10m+ if sold. There is very little downside to us with this loan, even if it doesn’t work out, but plenty of upside if it does
Fantastic news, I like the cut of his jib
Makes sense, this. He needs to continue with regular game time. He could still make it with us if this loan works out for him. I suspect we’ll be moving on Sokratis in the summer and one of Chambers or Mustafi. Luiz signing a new deal means he’s staying and Holding put in a good shift against Liverpool. Saliba, obviously, stays.
I’m not counting Kolasinac or Tierney as CBs even though they’ve both played there but I’m hoping we move on Kolasinac too. After looking brilliant when he first signed he’s proved to be extremely one dimensional and haphazard.
And I totally forgot about Mari!
It should be Mari-Holding-Saliba we should build on.
One of Chambers or Mustafi (depending who fetches higher price in market)
Then Luiz as stop gap till Mari is fit to start. But frankly, I would be using him less if I was Arteta. At the moment, the others are not ready so Sideshowbob is more than necessary to see us through this season. Next season, he should be a reserve/senior figure. I think that’s the idea behind it.
Sokratis looks like he will leave. Mavro on loan.
awful waste of money to pay luiz over 100k a week to be a reserve
This is good. We have him out on loan (again) which he has frankly needed for some time now. If should one or two of the other Cbacks prove unable to convince (Saliba and Mari jury still out), they will know we have someone out on loan developing and potential to replace. We kept Mavropanos frankly in and around the squad to his detriment several seasons past. Barely got a chance to play. He’s not young anymore so he will need to impress this coming season to seal a permanent deal with either Stuttgart, ourselves or someone-else and get his… Read more »
He should be at Arsenal, get rid of Mustafi & Louis, Mavropanos is a talent that we need to keep not see him go for cheap like Gnabry