Italian clubs expect West Ham United to sign Mavropanos amid advanced negotiations – Fabrizio Romano
Italian clubs appear to have accepted defeat in their pursuit of Konstantinos Mavropanos as they expect the Stuttgart defender to join West Ham, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The transfer expert provided a further update on the Irons’ pursuit of Mavropanos on his official Twitter account on Friday [18 August], claiming the centre-back was close to joining a Serie A team last week.
West Ham have focused on signing the Greece international after withdrawing their interest in Harry Maguire, who now looks set to stay at Manchester United.
Romano’s Tweet read: “Konstantinos Mavropanos was close to Serie A move last week — West Ham are now leading the race to sign him.
“Negotiations advancing with Stuttgart and Italian clubs also believe Dinos will join West Ham.
“Focus on Mavropanos as Maguire deal currently off.”
Mavropanos has previously played in the Premier League with West Ham’s London rivals Arsenal, though he was used just seven times across two seasons before departing.
The 25-year-old has made more of a name for himself in the Bundesliga with Stuttgart over the past few campaigns, and the Reds now look set to make a huge profit on the £4.5m they paid to sign him permanently in May 2022.
While he may not be a household name in the same way as Maguire is, Mavropanos is a more-than-solid centre-back, one who can also provide a goal threat – always a nice bonus trait for any centre-back to posses.
Indeed, the former Arsenal player has scored six goals across the past two Bundesliga seasons, and ranked in the top one percentile for shots among defenders across Europe’s top five leagues last season [The Analyst].
Mavropanos may take a bit of time to settle in at a new club, but it is an exciting signing nonetheless and allows West Ham to move on from the drawn-out Maguire saga.
In other West Ham news, Teddy Sheringham has singled out a player who would make an “ideal” signing for Moyes.
