When Arsenal decided to splash the cash on Benjamin White in the summer, a few questions were asked about the future of some young defenders already at the Gunners’ disposal.
Those are Konstantinos Mavropanos, now in his second year on loan at Stuttgart, and William Saliba, who was sent on loan to Marseille in Ligue 1.
While both shining with their respective clubs is a good thing, only one deal appears to be a good one for Arsenal, and that’s Saliba’s.
That’s because, as we’ve covered before, the Emirates side somehow decided that adding a €3m option to buy if Stuttgart avoided relegation was a good idea.
With the club currently in 12th after eight games, things have started pretty well, and Heidenheimer Zeitung have an article on Mavropanos’ situation.
Costing the Bundesliga side €500k for a second loan, the Greek defender will automatically be purchased for €3m if they stay up.
This is seen as ‘well invested money’, because Stuttgart are ‘already benefitting sportingly and the market value is rising’.
In fact, they are wondering ‘how Sven Mislintat was able to negotiate this agreement with his former employer’, even if Arsenal do have a percentage ‘in a possible resale’.
Since Mavropanos wanted to either play regularly with the Gunners or return to Stuttgart, the London side chose the latter, reportedly seeing him as a player who wouldn’t ‘take them further’.
Could this end being a costly mistake if the youngster continues to develop the way he has in the Bundesliga so far?
