Third summer transfer story included in this mini section Sportish And it is the most expensive deal of the last transfer window for a Greek footballer and one of the most expensive of all time, namely the sale of Dinos Mavropanos from Stuttgart to West Ham.

A development that was considered certain, because it was already clear for the 26-year-old central defender that he would leave the Swabians since the end of last season. What was then decided in the Bundesliga final was the German club’s bargaining power and the price it could demand.

And that’s because he was there in the qualifying games against Hamburg to win a place in this year’s Bundesliga. Stuttgart were better, they avoided relegation and so the price for one of their brightest pieces of silverware remained high, at a level the club had aspired to from the start, capitalizing on its status as an international stopper in the market.

The first reports were made in January, when there were reports of interest from Atlético Madrid and Inter Milan. At Sportish The situation at that time was accurately portrayed. And in the last transfer window it was practically confirmed, as the “Rojiblancos” brought their big target from the winter to Madrid, now as a free agent, the Turkish international Çaglar Suyudu.

For their part, the Milanese covered Skriniar’s early departure with … two and a half additions: they bought last year’s loan player, 35-year-old Acerbi from Lazio for 3.5 million euros, for 22 they gave Aarhus another 7 The 30-year-old Ferelpi Jan Bisek and the 30-year-old moved to FC Bayern at the end of August for Passepartout in defense, Benjamin Pavard.

From Italy, the There was a real and long-term interest in Mavropanos from Napoli. The Greek centre-back was at the top of the Italian champions’ list to replace South Korean Kim Min-Jae, having been selected by, among others, the technical director of the “partenopei”, Cristiano Giudoli.

Giudoli moved to Juventus at the beginning of the summer – and that is why there were other, completely unfounded scenarios about the interest of the “Bianconeri”, precisely because it was known that Mavropanos really liked the Italian agent – which certainly had an impact on the final ranking of the Neapolitans, but not their performance.

In fact, two attempts were made, the second while Mavropanos knew that West Ham would make a strong move for him, and so in his own personal balance, the desire to return to the Premier League prevailed, albeit from a completely different position and prestige , after which Napoli turned to the 22-year-old Brazilian Nathan (10 million euro purchase from Bragantino).

Frankfurt, Ajax, Forest before the “golden” deal with West Ham

Premier League. This was the “key” for the national defender’s change of roof. And that is why the more serious and comprehensive interest from Frankfurt that was expressed in the summer – until West Ham appeared – would not have been lucky, as Mavropanos did not want to stay in the Bundesliga.

He would only make an exception for a top team, namely Bayern, Dortmund and Leipzig, teams that could definitely meet the demands of Stuttgart, who, precisely because they expected a sale of the Greek, refused everything in this regard, any discussion about his concession Mavropanos ‘ Partner in the Swabians’ rearguard, 24-year-old Japanese Hiroki Ito, indicated that he would sell himself in the (obviously immediate) future.

The man who brought them both to Stuttgart, Sven Mislindad (and the man who brought Mavropanos from PAS to Arsenal when he was head of scouting at the Gunners), would like to take them to Amsterdam and Ajax, where he will be a technician this summer became director.

He asked, but on the one hand for Ito, we said that Stuttgart was not discussing it, on the other hand for Mavropanos his priorities lay on the other side of the English Channel and were by no means limited to the “Amsterdam Arena”.

What happened to England? It is true that Nottingham Forest – who have been mentioned by the Old Albion media as being interested in the winter transfer window – would make a move and move up to Mavropanos if the overall context and conditions allowed for it. However, there was a lack of proper communication and the necessary chemistry between the parties involved in such cases and so nothing progressed.

Wolves and Watford’s interest remained in the field of literature. It is significant that at the end of the transfer window (for 12 million euros) the Wolves were content to bring Uruguayan central defender Santiago Bueno from Girona.

And we’re coming to West Ham. Mavropanos was on the list of “hammers”. However, David Moges’ priority was to bring in a homegrown stopper while focusing on Harry Maguire. The Londoners’ effort was unsuccessful, they did not convince the English stopper and so after the first ten days in August Planb was activated.

Tim Steinden played a catalytic role there. The German officially took over as technical director at West Ham on July 1 and – understandably – played no significant role in the Hammers’ pursuit of Maguire.

But Mavropanos’ problem was the one who took it upon himself 100%. After all, he also had… a Greek past, because at the beginning of his professional career he had a say as scouting director of Werder Bremen, he had contributed to the purchase of Sokratis Papastathopoulos (represented by the same agent as Mavropanos). from the “Greens”.

Steiden was outstanding and then the one who selected the Greek central defender, took over the negotiations with Stuttgart and concluded them with a deal that fully corresponded to the demands of the German club, which denote the value of Mavropanos: 20 million euros plus another 5 in Bonuses.

For his part, Mavropanos – despite concerns falsely raised by reports of problems with the exams he submitted – signed a rich five-year contract that now placed him at the top of the highest-paid Greek footballers (in Stuttgart he was paid €1.5 million). his earnings in London increased by 70% per year.

An all-rounder in his second spell in the Premier League.