Forgotten Arsenal man, Konstantinos Mavropanos looks like he will leave Arsenal permanently next summer as he becomes another player shipped out without really being given a chance by Mikel Arteta.
Konstantinos Mavropanos was signed a few months before Arsene Wenger stepped down in 2018. A player identified by Sven Mislintat, now sporting director at Stutgart, Mavropanos got just eight first-team appearances for Arsenal before he was shipped out on loan.
Wenger gave Mavropanos three of those appearances (195 minutes in the Premier League) and Unai Emery the other five (149 minutes in the league, 90 in the Europa League).
Within a month of Mikel Arteta arriving, Mavropanos was off to FC Nuremberg.
When he returned, it was time to send him off on another loan, this time to Mislintat at Stuttgart.
Still, before they did that, Mavropanos signed a new contract until 2023 and we wondered if he might see him used in the future under Mikel Arteta.
Nope.
Mavropanos is now on his third loan spell and has barely spent a month at Arsenal while Arteta has been there.
Mislintat, the man who was so keen to bring him to Arsenal in the first place, is now keen to keep him permanently.
“I like his offensive drive,” Mislintat said. “In training, you can always see outstanding offensive actions with him.”
Mavropanos’ loan agreement reportedly comes with an obligation for the Germans to purchase him, as long as they avoid relegation. Even if that happens, they can buy him for just €3m (£2.57m) if they want.
Arsenal paid £1.89m for him and he’s currently worth around £5.5m.
Mavropanos is referred to as a ‘crowd favourite’ by German publication Bild.
Konstantinos Mavropanos timeline
17/18
13 January 2018 Signs for Arsenal.
20 April 2018 Arsene Wenger announces he will step down in the summer.
29 April 2018 Mavropanos gets Arsenal debut, starting and playing the full game in a 2-1 defeat by Manchester United at Old Trafford.
6 May 2018 Mavropanos starts and plays the full 90 minutes as Arsenal beat Burnley 5-0.
9 May 2018 Mavropanos starts against Leicester at the King Power but is sent off by Graham Scott after 15 minutes for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, even though he didn’t.
23 May 2018 Unai Emery announced as Arsenal manager.
18/19
A groin strain ruled Mavropanos out of action until the end of January 2019.
29 January 2019 Mavropanos is on the bench for the game against Cardiff which Arsenal won 2-1.
3 February 2019 Mavropanos plays 11 minutes against Manchester City in a 3-1 defeat at the Eithad.
5 February Mavropanos is not included in Arsenal’s Europa League squad.
8 February 2019 Sven Mislintat leaves Arsenal.
9 February 2019 Mavropanos is on the bench for the game against Huddersfield which Arsenal won 2-1.
Mavropanos disappears, possibly injured but nobody knows.
15 April 2019 Mavropanos returns, playing 59 minutes against Watford in a 1-0 win.
21 April 2019 Mavropanos plays 45 minutes against Crystal Palace in what was a 3-2 defeat at the Emirates.
14 September 2019 Mavropanos returns to the u23s, playing eight games in a row and playing the full 90 in seven of them.
Of the remaining four league games that season, Mavropanos was on the bench for one and played 34 minutes against Burnley in the last game of the season.
19/20
Mavropanos starts the season injured again
29 November 2019 Unai Emery sacked.
20 December 2019 Mikel Arteta appointed as Arsenal manager.
Another groin injury/something else keeps Mavropanos out until Christmas, when he then made three appearances on the bench. Notably, his first selection of the season was in a game when Freddie Ljungberg picked the team.
1 January 2020 Mavropanos vanishes again, not included in the squad for games against United or Palace but with no update.
13 January Mavropanos joins FC Nuremberg on loan.
12 July 2020 Returns to Arsenal at end of loan spell.
16 July 2020 Mavropanos joins Stuttgart on loan for the season after signing a new Arsenal contract until 2023.
21/22
24 June 2021 Mavropanos rejoins Stuttgart on loan.