Arsenal: Konstantinos Mavropanos throws summer plans off

Konstantinos Mavropanos made an excellent debut against Manchester United on Sunday afternoon. Does the young defender now throw Arsenal’s summer plans out of the window?

It was brave of Arsene Wenger to thrust Konstantinos Mavropanos into the heart of his Arsenal defence against Manchester United on Sunday afternoon. A 20-year-old Greek defender, making his senior debut for the club in one of the most overawing stadiums in world football against one of the best strikers in the country. This was hardly easing him in.

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But Mavropanos, in this sink or swim arena, flourished. There were, inevitably, a few warts. His passing into midfield was caught out a couple of times. There were one or two loose headers that conceded possession. But for the most part, this was an accomplished, controlled, consummate performance that belied his youthful inexperience.

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Indeed, Wenger, in his post-match press conference, revealed his impressions of the young defender, admitting that he was keen to see how the differences between training and competitive football would take effect:

"“Mavropanos, 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. That was the question mark and I think he did well. He surprised everybody by his quality today.”"

And that is the wide-range consensus that has been reached: This was an excellent start to life in north London for a player who is trying to establish himself at a position that will surely receive investment in the summer transfer window.

That, now, is the telling question. With Calum Chambers also impressing alongside Mavropanos, as well as Rob Holding sitting on the bench, does Mavropanos’ display de-rail the summer plans that the club may had been making to upgrade the centre-half position?

There is a fine line between depth and development. While Arsenal will undoubtedly want to recruit at least one other centre-back to partner Shkodran Mustafi and lead a defence that has been painfully loose and mistake-ridden this season, does adding another body to the mix simply mean that the progression of others is stented? Would it not be better to roll the dice with a younger player, acknowledging the risk but chasing after an almighty reward?

I do not know the answer to that question. Certainly, it would be a huge risk if the Gunners were to continue with either Chambers or Mavropanos as a starting centre-half next season. And, obviously, no concrete and certain conclusions should be drawn from just one game. But I do believe that the question needs to be considered.

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Mavropanos and Chambers need game time. They will not improve without it. But to give them consistent and significant game time, there needs to be a trusting in their abilities. That starts this summer by choosing them and not a potential recruit.