West Ham United are bearing down on a potential transfer for former Arsenal defender Konstantinos Mavropanos, according to journalist Florian Plettenberg on Twitter.

Plettenberg says that the deal is ‘close’ to being completed and that the deal will involve a transfer fee of around £17.1 million to secure the player’s services.

On his official Twitter account, Plettenberg wrote: “Excl. News: Total agreement between VfB and West Ham about a permanent deal of Konstantinos Mavropanos is close to be done now. Transfer fee of around €20m with add-ons included. Player wants to join WHUFC. Tim Steidten was pushing for the 25 y/o central defender. Last details have to be clarified.”

Do West Ham need another centre-back?

West Ham do not have a shortage of players who can play in the centre-half position – however, they do not have an enormous amount of quality options in the role.

The Hammers’ current options are centre-back are Kurt Zouma, Angelo Ogbonna, Thilo Kehrer and Nayef Aguerd. Kehrer has been something of a disappointing since he joined, while Ogbonna is aging rapidly – leaving just Zouma and Aguerd as West Ham’s only two decent centre-backs.

Due to this, it would be highly beneficial for West Ham to add another central defender to their ranks – especially with their quest to sign former Manchester United captain Harry Maguire ending in disappointment.

How would Konstantinos Mavropanos improve the Hammers’ defence?

At 6ft 4, Mavropanos is imperious in the air. He isn’t slow, either – as such, he can be relied upon to deal with almost any kind of attack from the Irons’ opposition.

An adaptable player, Mavropanos can also function as a right-back if necessary – which is another position that could become a problem for the Hammers.

Mavropanos struggled during his time at Arsenal – in total, he made just eight first team appearances for the Gunners, before joining Stuttgart in 2022 for a relatively minimal transfer fee.

As such, the Greek sentinel will have a point to prove, should he secure a transfer to the London Stadium. He will want to prove that he has what it takes to perform at the highest level – and there are few levels higher than the Premier League.