Arsenal: Konstantinos Mavropanos a crucial piece

Konstantinos Mavropanos made his return for the Arsenal under-23s on Monday night. The Greek centre-half is still a crucial piece in Unai Emery’s defensive puzzle.

Injuries have killed Arsenal’s season in the defensive positions. Laurent Koscielny started the year with a ruptured Achilles. Rob Holding will miss the rest of the year thanks to a torn ACL. Shkodran Mustafi, Nacho Monreal, Sead Kolasinac and Hector Bellerin have all had stints on the sideline at different periods.

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One defensive injury that has not perhaps had the same coverage as others, though, is Greek defender Konstantinos Mavropanos mysterious groin problem. The 21-year-old entered the season with the groin issue but was expected to be available by October or November.

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In the end, it took until mid-January for him to make his return to full training, with his first appearance coming on Monday night in an under-23 match against Manchester City. Mavropanos played 70 minutes before being substituted, which was planned prior to kick off, and impressed greatly with his calmness on the ball and physical presence, especially considering that he has just returned from a long-term injury.

After the match, under-23 manager Freddie Ljungberg both urged caution with the defender and looked forward to the remainder of the year:

"“You have to remember it’s six months he hasn’t played football. I was very happy for him to get back, I would imagine a young player with a new manager would want to impress. He wouldn’t want to be injured first thing. Now he can show what he can do on the pitch and in training. He’s a very good football player.”"

Mavropanos has almost been forgotten this season. Standing on the sidelines for such an extended period can sometimes do that to players. And with the blossoming form of Holding earlier in the year, the young-centre-half joy was focused on the Englishman, not the man stuck in the physio room.

However, now that he is back in the fray, it would be fair to give Mavropanos his due. In his six short months last season, he impressed greatly, with Arsene Wenger even having to u-turn on his initial statement that the then 20-year-old would be loaned out, eventually starting him in Premier League games against Manchester United and Leicester City.

Mavropanos showed glimpses of outrageous talent. And I believe that Unai Emery trusts in that talent. It is why he was happy to send out Calum Chambers out on loan, initially supposing that Mavropanos would not miss more than half the season. Over the coming months, it will be fascinating to see how he fares as he bids to return to the first-team squad.

It has been a difficult start to the season and it is important that things are not rushed, but Mavropanos’ return is exciting. He can still be a key piece of Emery’s defensive puzzle. God knows Arsenal need it.