We always think of a loan spell as a chance for a young player to prove they deserve chances at their parent club, but it can also show them that they might be better off moving on and establishing themselves somewhere else.
Dinos Mavropanos has always been on the fringe of the Arsenal first team so it wasn’t a great loss when he went on loan to Stuttgart this season, but he’s starting to live up to that early potential.
His performances have earned him a debut with Greece and a report from Bild has indicated that the Bundesliga side want to find a way to keep him.
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That may not be simple as Arsenal do have problems in defence so reinforcements are needed, but you would expect that William Saliba would be first in line for opportunities with the returning loanees.
The report carries some quotes from the defender, and it does sound like he’s open to staying unless Arsenal convince him that he’s going to get a genuine chance next season:
“I can’t say that at the moment. Things can change quickly in football. I still have two months here in Stuttgart and would like to end the season with the team as high up as possible. “
“The door at VfB is open for me – that’s very good. But I can only really think about the future once we have talks with Arsenal for the new season.”
It’s an interesting one for the Gunners if they don’t see him having a long-term future because his performances will have increased his stock and it could also be a good time to sell him on, so that may come into their thinking too.
He’s clearly done enough to show he deserves a chance, but perhaps he might be best served staying in Germany where he’s going to be a regular starter.