Arsenal: Konstantinos Mavropanos future murkier than ever

Arsenal are preparing to send Konstantinos Mavropanos out on loan, but the details make it even more unclear just how the young defenders future looks.

It wasn’t all that long ago that Konstantinos Mavropanos was the future of this defense. Hell, more than that, he was the present of the defense too. Arsene Wenger’s last few months at Arsenal saw him starting Calum Chambers and Mavropanos side by side and it was looking surprisingly convincing.

Mavropanos had that grit and determination we’d been missing from out in-house options, he was Sven Mislintat’s big signing, and all signs pointed to him being something really special.

But as things often do, they went wrong. An injury that took way longer than expected to heal, a couple of roadblocks in the way, and now he’s 22-year-old and further from the plot than ever before. Only this time, it’s a loan move.

Wenger nearly loaned out Mavropanos when he first acquired him, but he liked what he saw so much that he kept him. That’s high praise. And as such, Mavropanos never went out on a loan.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

Now, he looks to be doing just that, years after the initial impulse to do so. And this time, it’s not an exciting prospect, really. It’s not like he’s being sent to the Bundesliga, or the Championship. The move he is linked to is FC Nurnberg, who are currently in the relegation zone of Bundesliga 2.

That’s perplexing, but it’s also worrisome. Maybe it’s just a matter of getting him guaranteed first team minutes, but the level of competition there is not where we’d want him to be matching, right? I mean, when Calum Chambers just needed first team experience, we sent him to Middlesbrough, then to Fulham. It worked wonders.

If Mavropanos isn’t good enough to secure a loan like that, then I have major questions for his future at the club at all, and wonder if we wouldn’t be better off downright selling him while he still carries some value from his potential.

I don’t know, maybe I’m overreacting. I just don’t see how the relegation zone of Bundesliga 2 is going to prepare Mavropanos for life in the Premier League. He was just on our bench in a few matches, could he really be that far off?

We’ll just have to wait and see. All I know is I’m not holding my breath for him to make it at this club anymore.