Dinos Mavropanos goes into the international break on the high of just getting the equaliser for West Ham United against bitter rivals Millwall. Offensively, Mavropanos has been excellent this season, scoring four goals in seven Championship games so far. That is a better record than that of the West Ham forwards. This shows how important set-pieces are in the modern game.
Mavropanos is a centre-back, and he has made a few slip-ups already this season. He has made notable defensive errors against Millwall, Charlton Athletic, and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
West Ham are lucky to have managed to keep hold of Mavropanos. He was linked with Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen over the summer. The defender had previously played for Stuttgart and Nurnberg, so a return to the Bundesliga could have been fitting. Mavropanos was also previously at Arsenal in his career. The Gunners also showed interest in re-signing him. However, fortunately, he stayed with the Hammers.
The Greek international won Hammer Player of the Year award last season, and keeping him is almost as important as Jarrod Bowen staying. With the likes of Crysencio Summerville and Mateus Fernandes moving on after the Hammers' relegation, Mavropanos would no doubt have also been tempted by a potential move away from the relegated side.
A West Ham exit was not crucial for Dinos Mavropanos
As Mavropanos plays for Greece, he does not need to be playing top-flight football to ensure his place in the national team. The 2004 European Champions begin their Nations League campaign with an away fixture against Serbia tonight. However, Mavropanos will be relieved not to be going up against Aleksander Mitrovic and Dusan Vlahovic.
Mitrovic is well known from his time with Fulham and now plays for Al-Rayyan in the Qatar Stars League. Vlahovic was a star for Juventus and was regularly linked with Premier League teams, but now represents Beşiktaş in Turkey. Vlahovic's and Mitrovic's injuries are a blow for Serbia. However, they still have the likes of Luka Jović, Sergej Milinković-Savić, and Filip Kostić on their roster.
After facing Serbia, Greece will play Germany at home and away, sandwiching a fixture against the Netherlands. These are League A fixtures, with Greece having been promoted from League B in the last edition of the Nations League. The Greek side won promotion after defeating Scotland 3-1 on aggregate in the playoffs.
Greece's match with Serbia is on Amazon Prime PPV with a kick-off time of 7:45 pm (BST). West Ham fans have the option of watching that game or Mads Hermansen's Denmark in action against Norway. That match is also on Amazon Prime PPV. Alternatively, supporters can check on former Hammer Craig Bellamy, who will be taking charge of Wales against Portugal. The Portugal-Wales match is on BBC Two and S4C. It can also be streamed on BBC iPlayer.
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