1. London links
The name Konstantinos Mavropanos might be a familiar one and that is because he previously played in the Premier League, donning the red and white of fellow Premier League side Arsenal.
At 20, the centre-back completed a move to Emirates Stadium in January 2018 from PAS Giannina in his home country of Greece, and spent two years in the first-team environment at the Gunners. Mavropanos featured between the senior side and the development team, playing eight times in the first team.
Seven of those appearances came in the Premier League, while one was in the UEFA Europa League, before he spent the remaining two-and-a-half years on the Londoners' books on loan in Germany.
2. High praise on his Premier League debut
The initial plan for Mavropanos, according to then Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, was for the young Greek to go out on loan and learn his craft in a competitive division in Europe.
As such, a deal did not materialise immediately, and Mavropanos was incorporated into Arsenal’s first team plans for the remainder of the 2017/18 season.
With the Gunners set for a UEFA Europa League semi-final second leg at Atlético Madrid a few days later, Mavropanos was selected for his Premier League debut away at Manchester United in April 2018, with the youngster’s efforts hailed in difficult circumstances.
At the heart of the defence in a relatively experienced Arsenal team at Old Trafford, Mavropanos put in what was praised as an ‘outstanding’ performance. While the Gunners fell to a late 2-1 defeat, Arsenal manager Wenger was full of praise for the young defender.
He said: “In training he has shown top quality but then you always have a question mark as long as you don’t see that under pressure in a big game. Until that, you don’t know. The big players do better in the competition than in training.
“They make a career, the others – we have many players at our level who do less well in competition than in training. That was the question mark and I think he did well. He surprised everybody by his quality today.”
3. Hammers connections
It might be a small surprise to learn that Mavropanos has never shared the pitch as a teammate with any current West Ham player.
Despite representing four clubs across Greece, England and Germany in his young career so far, the 25-year-old has not had the pleasure of calling any player in the West Ham dressing room a teammate prior to his switch to the Irons.
However, Mavropanos has played alongside two former Hammers in his career; albeit each one was only for one game.
During his time with Arsenal, the Greek international shared the pitch with Jack Wilshere and with Carl Jenkinson, both of whom would swap north London for east London.
The defender played 72 minutes in the Premier League with former England international Wilshere, as the duo lined up for Arsenal in a 5-0 win over Burnley in May 2018. He also played alongside Jenkinson for 45 minutes in a 3-2 defeat at Crystal Palace in April 2019.
4. The first Greek Hammer
In the Premier League, West Ham United have been represented by 48 different nationalities. But no Greek players have pulled on the Claret and Blue until now.
In signing for the Irons, Mavropanos becomes the first-ever Greek player to represent the Club, becoming nationality number 49 to do so.
Greece can now boast a single West Ham player in their history, becoming the 12th different nationality to have just a single player represent the Irons, following the likes of Turkey, Paraguay, Ukraine, Ecuador, Poland and New Zealand.
Mavropanos is one of 29 Greek players to play in the Premier League too, and becomes one of three to currently ply his trade in the English top flight along with Liverpool’s Kostas Tsimikas and George Baldock of Sheffield United, who declared for Greece in 2022.
5. A fine finisher
Despite being a centre-back, Mavropanos has developed a helpful habit of scoring some impressive finishes.
The defender has eight goals in all competitions over the last two seasons for VfB Stuttgart. In August 2021, Mavropanos scored his first Bundesliga goal in a match against Freiburg, battling his way through three defenders before exchanging passes with Hamadi Al Ghaddioui and firing a fine finish into the top corner.
His second, against Hoffenheim, was another spectacular effort, driving through the defence before unleashing a fierce drive.
Those two were followed by a near 30-yard effort against Borussia Mönchengladbach and another tremendous strike versus VfL Wolfsburg, giving the defender four for the 2021/22 season. He would finish on five for the campaign, before adding another three strikes last season.
An impressive return for a centre-back!
6. He used to be a striker
His excellent scoring record might not be a surprise when you consider that Mavropanos started his career as a forward!
At 6’4, the Greek was put up front as a kid due to his ability to dominate defenders. As the years went by, however, Mavropanos was pulled further back down the pitch, eventually discovering his talents as a centre-back.
Speaking about his previous life as a striker, the 25-year-old said: “Of course, I think everyone changes position at a young age. For me, I was playing a few years like a striker, but not professionally.
“Because of my size, as a kid I used to play up front, but I then switched to centre back in my youth. I like to challenge players one-on-one and I would say I’m quite good at aerial challenges.”
7. Impressive form
VfB Stuttgart completed a permanent move to sign Mavropanos last summer and the Greek centre-back was an impressive figure in the team throughout the 2022/23 campaign.
Despite only playing 28 of the 34 regular Bundesliga matches last season, the centre-back made the most interceptions in the German top flight throughout the campaign with 63.
Mavropanos also averaged 3.5 clearances per fixture, and 49.7 passes in each match, while playing a total of 2,724 minutes of football in all competitions, the fourth-most of any player in the squad.
Despite a difficult year for Stuttgart, one that saw them avoid relegation via a victory in the relegation play-off with Hamburger SV, Mavropanos' form was a real bright spot.
