Arsenal: 5 huge successes from the January transfer window

4. Mavropanos movement

I know I’m not alone in being frustrated with what’s become of Konstantinos Mavropanos. The young Greek defender was such a hit when he first arrived that he made Arsene Wenger reconsider. I didn’t even know Arsene Wenger could reconsider, but he did. He opted not to loan out Mavropanos and to play him with the senior team instead.

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

That lead to absolutely nothing. And here we are, years later, and we’ve seen him what, five times? If that?

I’m not a huge fan of sending him to Bundesliga 2. But honestly, I don’t care where you send him as long as it gets him consistent playing time. We have to figure out what we have in Mavropanos. We just have to. Otherwise he’s just taking up space. He’s 22 now. Same as Ainsley Maitland-Niles. The difference is Maitland-Niles has proven himself ten times over and Mavropanos has stagnated thanks to injuries and a whole lot of nothing.

Getting him out of the club, jarring his comfort zone, letting him stretch his legs on a pitch and remember what it’s like to play competitive football… it’s all going to hopefully return him to where he was when he first arrived. When we were all banking on him.

Speaking of loans, No. 3 is next.