Arsenal: Dinos Mavropanos risks fading into obscurity

Dinos Mavropanos finds himself on the periphery at Arsenal. The Greek defender must get things back on track before he fades into obscurity.

Dinos Mavropanos arrived to very little fanfare when Sven Mislintat won the race to bring him to Arsenal from PAS Giannina in January 2018. But after a promising start to life in North London, injuries have hindered his development. And now, 18 months on, he risks fading into obscurity unless he can muscle his way back into contention.

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It only seems like yesterday that a 20-year-old Mavropanos introduced himself to the world during that credible 2-1 away defeat to Manchester United in April 2018. Arsene Wenger’s farewell tour was in full swing — Alexis Sánchez embraced the Frenchman before kick-off, Sir Alex Ferguson presented him with a gift, but the game itself was not great — and the Gunners, turning to the Europa League, fielded the kids.

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Mavropanos made quite the impression. His performance left fans salivating. A good turn of pace, physicality, composure in possession, anticipation, awareness, and defensive guile were all evident in his superb debut.

Since then, everything has gone downhill for the Athens-born defender. Although he started Wenger’s final home game, a 5-0 drubbing of Burnley, he foolishly got himself sent off against Leicester City after hauling down Kelechi Iheanacho when the Foxes striker broke through on goal.

Unai Emery was then appointed and Mavropanos failed to impress whenever the Spaniard gave him an opportunity. 149 first-team minutes was all that he was able to amass last season, as a persistent groin problem often confined him to the treatment table.

Speaking on the Arseblog Arsecast in July 2019, David Ornstein remarked that Emery does not view Mavropanos as a ‘credible option’ and that the player’s ‘development and readiness to compete for a position now are of concern’.

Arsenal supposedly had the intention of loaning Mavropanos out last summer, but an injury setback ended that possibility and disturbed his start to the current campaign.

The towering defender has featured prominently for Arsenal’s U23 side in the last month or so, starting Premier League 2 fixtures against Leicester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Liverpool, as well as the Football League Trophy clash with Peterborough United. He is closing in on a return to the first team, but his future at the club, despite his obvious potential, looks murky.

Although a high summer turnover at the centre-back position would not be surprising, do not expect Mavropanos to leave permanently any time soon. A temporary departure — either in January and/or next summer — designed to rebuild his reputation and confidence is much more likely.

Mavropanos faces an uphill battle to re-establish himself in the manager’s plans. With his Arsenal career in the balance, he needs to start fighting for his place. Because, at present, he risks fading into obscurity.