Premier League giants Arsenal on Thursday confirmed their first signing of the January transfer window, acquiring 20-year-old Greek defender Konstantinos Mavropanos from PAS Giannina, the club confirmed.
“Young Greek defender Konstantinos Mavropanos has signed for us,” a club statement read.
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The 6’4 centre-back made 16 Greek Super League appearances since breaking into the first team last season and while the fee has not been disclosed, the young defender is said to have cost the Gunners a fee of £1.9 million.
While Konstantinos has not yet represented Greece at the senior level, he has been capped at the U-21s and is widely regarded as one of the finest talents the country has produced in the last decade or so.
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With Per Mertesacker retiring at the end of the current season, Arsenal were in need of a central defender to replace the ageing German but it doesn’t appear that their latest recruit will be seeing any first-team action anytime soon.
If reports are to be believed, the young Greek is expected to be loaned out to a Bundesiga side to gain some more top-flight experience.
Werder Bremen are leading the race to sign the tall centre-back on a half-season loan and a deal is expected to be thrashed out before the transfer deadline (January 31).