Newcastle United have been linked with a move for Arsenal loanee Konstantinos Mavropanos, who is thriving on loan in Germany.
The 24-year-old re-joined Stuttgart temporarily in the summer after making 22 appearances for the Bundesliga side last season.
However, the Greek international has taken his game to new heights this season with five goals from 15 appearances.
His impressive form has resulted in him being linked with a move to Newcastle, as well as West Ham and Borussia Dortmund.
German newspaper BILD claim that Stuttgart have a bargain £2.5million option to sign Mavropanos permanently. They could then look to sell him on for a huge fee of £21million.
Konstantinos Mavropanos would improve Newcastle defensively
Prior to Stuttgart’s 5-0 battering at home against Bayern Munich last night, Mavropanos was ranked in WhoScored’s current team of the season across Europe’s top five leagues.
But the hammering at the hands of Bayern saw the centre back drop out of the side, but he still remains in the current Bundesliga team of the year so far with a rating of 7.35.
Only two players in the Bundesliga currently average more interceptions per game than Mavropanos (2.4). They are former West Ham academy star Reece Oxford (2.5) and Bochum veteran Anthony Losilla (2.8).
The man who has been capped seven times for Greece currently sits second (5.8) for the average number of clearances per game in the German top-flight. Only former Manchester City and Celtic defender Dedryck Boyata (6.7) sits above him.
Mavropanos also sits in the league’s top five for the average number of blocks per game (0.9).
Having only played for Arsenal on eight occasions, Mavropanos may feel he has unfinished business in the Premier League.
It’s clear that his spell at Stuttgart has aided his development and allowed him to showcase the quality all-round defender he can become.
Newcastle desperately need defensive reinforcements, but with Mavropanos tied into a loan deal at Stuttgart until the end of the season, any potential move will have to wait until the summer. And that could then depend on whether we have secured our Premier League status.
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