Greek international defender Konstantinos Mavropanos returned to England after Arsenal sold him in 2022. West Ham United made a bid to sign the former Gunner, and the 25-year-old decided to continue his career with another London-based club. Mavropanos joined Arsenal in 2018 but failed to cement his spot in the starting 11. Arsenal agreed to loan out the player, and he was sent on for three loan spells to Germany. Stuttgart loaned him for several seasons and then decided to sign the player on a permanent deal.
The Hammers spent €25 million to sign the player from the Bundesliga side. West Ham were guaranteed a spot in the UEFA Europa League 2023–24 after their Conference League 2022–24 triumph. The Hammers strengthened their squad, and here are the stats for why they paid this heavy amount for the Greek defender.
In the 2022–23 season, Mavropanos spent 2,481 minutes on the field in the Bundesliga. The defensive territory above shows that the player played more on the right side. The 25-year-old covered a lot of areas on the right flank and also took care of the centre.
Konstantinos Mavropanos won 66.4% of his defensive duels, 68.1% of his aerial duels, and 58.9% of his loose ball duels. This is a very high win percentage for any defender. The aerial duel-winning ability also shows that Mavropanos is a threat in the air. He also recorded 6.5 interceptions per 90 minutes. Overall, the duels’ win percentage was one of the biggest reasons why West Ham paid so highly for the defender.
The Greek centre-back is not afraid to put his body on the line. He blocked 17 shots in the 2022–23 season, with most of them coming inside the penalty box. Mavropanos has blocked most of these shots on the left side, and this is the opposite side from where he plays. This shows the ability of the player to read such threats.
Set-pieces threat
Konstantinos Mavropanos is a threat when it comes to aerial ability. His ability to win aerial duels gives advantage in the defence as well as in the attack. The defender took 37 shots in the Bundesliga in 2022-23 and managed to hit the target 12 times. He found the back of the net a couple of times.
The 25-year-old Greek also possesses the ability to play passes into dangerous areas. He averaged 47.56 passes per 90 minutes and had a decent accuracy rate of 85.5%. The above viz. shows that the ball progression was made from the right. However, he also tried a few long diagonals and often found a runner on the opposite flank.
Mavropanos has started to settle in West Ham but has yet to cement his place in the starting 11. The Greek has played in both UEFA Europa League matches and is yet to start a game in the Premier League. David Moyes will look to settle him and ensure that the defence of the team is strengthened by his presence.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
