Konstantinos Mavropanos has vowed to “repay the honour” of his move to Arsenal having joined his new team-mates in training for the first time.
Mavropanos, a £2million signing from PAS Giannina, joined Arsene Wenger’s first-team at London Colney this morning though he is likely to soon be moving on, with the Arsenal manager having confirmed this morning that he intends to loan the Greek centre-back to a German club.
That is expected to be Werder Bremen, with the intention being for the 21-year-old to spend the second half of the season in the Bundesliga before being eventually integrated into the Arsenal setup.
Mavropanos made 16 Greek Super League appearances with PAS this season and though he still has some way to go before he is a regular for Arsenal he could not hide his delight at making such a surprise step up.
“From my heart I would like to thank the Arsenal officials for the great honour they’ve shown because they’ve placed me in the family of a huge club with millions of fans all over the world,” he told Nova Sports.
“I am very touched. I will give all my strength with my performances to repay this honour and trust in order to make the club and its supporters happy.
“I had the luck to make my first professional steps at PAS Giannina, a club that has a tradition to offer young players the opportunity for a big step in their careers.
“Mr [Giorgios] Christovasilis [PAS owner], Mr [Giannis] Petrakis [PAS coach], my team-mates and the entire city of Ioannina stood by my side. I’m grateful and thank you to all.
“I’d also like to publicly thank my agent Mr Konstantinos Farras for all of his actions over the last few months which have brought today’s outcome. From now I am a Gunner!”
At 6 feet 4 inches, with decent technique and experience in a back-three Mavropanos has the raw ingredients to succeed at Arsenal but his new manager does not expect him to make an immediate impact.
“I prefer him to play,” Wenger said. “Where? It doesn’t really matter.
“It’s just that he plays in the top level and gains experience. He is 20 years old and he needs experience for a central defender.
“He is not ready to start for us so it is important he gets experience.”