Konstantinos Mavropanos’ loan move from Arsenal to Stuttgart will be made permanent in a £4.5million deal this summer, according to reports.
The Greek defender has spent the last two seasons with the Bundesliga outfit, who dramatically sealed their top-flight status for another season with a last-gasp goal to beat Cologne.
Reports had suggested a permanent move to the Mercedes-Benz Arena for the 24-year-old was dependent on Pellegrino Matarazzo’s staying in the top division of German football.
But The Athletic claim that while that obligation to buy if Stuttgart secured their Bundesliga status was written into the loan contract, they add the German side had already told Arsenal weeks ago they wanted to complete a permanent deal, regardless of where they finished.
The report adds Stuttgart – who paid an initial loan fee of £500,000 to sign Mavropanos – will now fork out another £3m with bonuses worth up to another £1.5m.
The fee is considered low due to the attention the Greece international has received since moving to Germany, with Borussia Dortmund and West Ham reportedly having kept tracks on him.
But the same outlet adds the £4.5m will be paid to Arsenal up front, handing the Gunners a tiny boost ahead of what promises to be another busy transfer window in north London.
Mavropanos joined Arsenal in January 2018 from PAS Giannina in his home country as one of the first signings under former head of recruitment Sven Mislintat.
However, despite initially impressing Arsene Wenger – notably in a 3-2 defeat at Manchester United in April 2018 – Mavropanos struggled for game time at the Gunners, partly due to injury.
Having played just nine matches for the Gunners, he spent the second half of the 2019-20 season on loan in the 2. Bundesliga with Nurnberg, before moving to Stuttgart in the summer of 2020.
It is there he has excelled, featuring in 55 games during his two-year loan spell, scoring five goals in the process.
With his future now seemingly at Stuttgart, the Gunners’ focus in defence will now turn to William Saliba, who was named Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year following his loan spell at Marseille.
The Frenchman – who moved to the Emirates Stadium in a £27m deal from Saint-Etienne in 2019 – has yet to play for the Gunners competitively and has just two years left on his deal.
Marseille have expressed an interest in keeping the 21-year-old, while Atletico Madrid are said to be among several top clubs tracking him.