VfB Stuttgart have decided to sign Konstantinos Mavropanos regardless of whether they get relegated, according to a report.

Chris Wheatley reports that Stuttgart will sign Konstantinos Mavropanos in the summer.

The Bundesliga club had an obligation to buy if they avoided relegation, but Wheatley claims they’ll activate their option to buy even if they go down.

You’d imagine they’ll then immediately try to sell the defender for a profit. Borussia Dortmund and West Ham United are reportedly monitoring the defender, with a number of European clubs interested.

Activating the option to buy will get Arsenal £3m for the player, and they’ll also earn a reported 10% of his future sale.

From that perspective, it’s still relevant whether or not Stuttgart manage to stay up.

If they go down, their situation becomes more desperate, and you’d imagine that will be reflected in lower bids for Mavropanos – and less money for Arsenal.

At the weekend, the Bundesliga side slipped to a late defeat to Hoffenheim, which made it nine consecutive games without a win (two draws, seven defeats).

Stuttgart are now four points away from escaping the relegation zone, and five points clear of the bottom of the table.

Bottom club Greuther Furth have picked up 10 points to Stuttgart’s two since December 13th. There has been no worse team in the German top tier in 2022, and there are only 10 games left to turn that around.