By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)
West Ham defender Konstantinos Mavropanos has been informed by the club that they expect him to remain at the club, Claret & Hugh have been told exclusively this morning.
The news comes only a few days after Sky Sports reported there were several clubs eager to sign last season’s Hammer of the Year, including his former club Arsenal.
Mavropanos was signed by former director of football Tim Steidten for £17 million from Stuttgart.
West Ham’s Position Is Clear
It will come as no surprise to discover there is also interest from Bundesliga clubs in the big Greek central defender, who last season transformed from a squad player into the first centre-back Nuno Espírito Santo scribbled down on his team sheet.
Earlier today, Claret & Hugh spoke to a source with good connections to the football club and, during a general conversation about West Ham’s lack of transfer activity, we were told that the West Ham hierarchy have informed Mavropanos they expect him to remain at the club.
“Summerville will go and Wan-Bissaka wants out. Others have been told they’re not being sold and most are okay with that.”
When we asked whether Mavropanos was one of those players, we were told:
“Yes.”
Keeping Dinos Could Be The Biggest Signing Of All
Whilst the club’s lack of transfer activity has been frustratingly slow in terms of players arriving, if West Ham are able to keep hold of Mavropanos, it could prove a bigger boost than any central defender the Hammers would realistically be able to sign this summer.
That said, keeping hold of Dinos will not be easy and I do wonder whether the stories leaked to Sky over the past few days have been agent-led.
Certainly, the narrative coming from West Ham points towards the club wanting him to remain in east London.
One can only hope the West Ham hierarchy can persuade the player to stay.
If his head has been turned, it may not be easy.
But make no mistake about it, keeping hold of the likes of Mavropanos and Jarrod Bowen could well be the difference between winning promotion and missing out.
It’s that important.
Mav would be a loss he is a big character but if a big money offer comes in for him, I suspect he will be gone. Am surprised Summerville hasn’t yet £40m if that release clause is true seems quite a small amount for a proven game changer that had an outstanding World Cup.
What seems to have gone quiet is how much money we need to make from player sales to balance the books, if Summerville isn’t being sold and Bowen isn’t where will that money come from ?
Mav suffered before Xmas as did the rest of the defenders. Kilman was so poor the defence were always plugging the holes his inability created . As soon as Kilman was dropped the whole defence improved dramatically. Mav would do a great job in Championship. COYI
There has been no good reports or evaluation on our under 21 squad most would play their hearts out to get a chance. What is the general thoughts regarding them I’m no expert but think we have a few jems waiting to upgrade ??
If Mac goes to Arsenal he’ll be used as England use Dan Burn. 10 to 15 minutes to see games out and early round cup games. Would MAV want that?
My view is that he was a player poorly suited to the Premier League and happened to hit a purple patch in second half of last season, which is unlikely to be repeated even in the Championship. It’s better to sell while we can get a premium for him and then replace. Let’s be honest if it was for Traore engineering the fracas with Chelsea Disasi and To dibs would have been the CB for the rest of the season and we would now be struggling to offload Mac for a decent fee.
Mavro won’t be going to arsenal he’s already covered that ground.
Probably won’t get unlimited playing time will be well down pecking order.
Needs to tell other clubs £60m or don’t bother.
Well publicised Mavro and Disarsi are a formidable partnership.
Disarsi will be weighing up what’s on offer whether whu can wait until end of transfer period is another question.
£25m for Bissaka could see him staying at club.
Funny how not so long ago everyone saying he was rubbish, let’s hope he continues on the upgrade!
I love Mavrapanos but if a club like Arsenal have come in for him and he wants to go, I think we have to let him go.What a opportunity for him to win some silver ware,we can’t take that away from him. Anyone with that offer would want to
But I hope he stays to help us get straight back up
I feel the same way Sue he put Steel into the Irons last season and it took the sideline experts by surprise and some still don’t want to admit. Dinos is a 99 minute tryer and every team needs players like him. If he gets a move the Irons will be worse off for it and hopefully he can lead the line for them like he does every match for WHU.