Mavropanos: A little panicked knowing Arsenal were going to sign me, and Lukaku was the strongest opponent

24-year-old Mavropanos is being loaned by Arsenal to play in Stuttgart in the Bundesliga, and the Greek centre-back recently said in an interview with the goalscoring network that he was a little nervous and flustered when he learned arsenal were going to sign him, and Lukaku was the strongest striker he had ever played.

Mavropanos said: "It was a crazy day, oh my God, I remember it very clearly. I had a very pleasant six months with the Greek side Atlético Giannina and on New Year's Eve 2018 I got a call from Arsenal wanting to sign me. I got a call on 31 December 2017 and I was already on my way to London on 1 January 2018. ”

'I was nervous about those days and suddenly a big club like Arsenal wanted you, I was a little flustered, it was an adventure for me, it was the first time I left my home country of Greece and all of a sudden there would be a big star like Aubameyang sitting next to your dressing room, and you probably only saw him on TV before.'

'When Papastathopoulos joined Arsenal, he was my mentor, he helped me a lot on the pitch, he coached me a lot on the pitch and he helped me a lot in reading the game on the defensive end.

Mavropanos made his Gunners debut in April 2018 in a 1-2 Premier League clash away to Manchester United, which the Greeks said impressed. "I'll never forget my Arsenal debut, it was when I played Manchester United at Old Trafford and I defended directly against Romelu Lukaku. To this day, I haven't met a better striker than him in the game. ”

'I've played Bayern and Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga, but I've never played directly against Lewandowski or Haaland, which is why I have to say that Lukaku is by far the hardest striker I've ever had, his physique is impressively strong and his technique on his feet is also very good, it's hard to stop him.

(Volcano)