West Ham have completed the signing of the Greece defender Konstantinos Mavropanos from Stuttgart. The 25-year-old returns to the Premier League having made seven appearances in the competition during a three-year stint at Arsenal.
Mavropanos failed to become a first-team regular at the Emirates Stadium and spent two seasons on loan with Stuttgart before making the move permanent last summer. He has signed a five-year deal with the Hammers for an undisclosed fee, reported to be in the region of £19m.
“I am really happy and excited to be here – and to be back in the Premier League with West Ham United,” he told the club’s website. “It’s an exciting time to be joining the club after last season’s Conference League win and I am really looking forward to the next step in my career. I can promise the fans I will give everything for them and the shirt.”
Mavropanos, who has 19 caps for Greece, will compete with Kurt Zouma, Nayef Aguerd, Angelo Ogbonna and Thilo Kehrer for a place in the heart of the defence. He was signed after a move for the Manchester United and England centre-back Harry Maguire broke down and is the third major summer arrival at the London Stadium after the midfield additions of Edson Álvarez and James Ward-Prowse.
There had been suggestions last week that Mavropanos’s move had broken down after a problem with his medical. His arrival was confirmed on Tuesday afternoon, soon after Stuttgart announced the signing of the St Gallen centre-back Leonidas Stergiou.
Burnley have made the Belgium defender Hannes Delcroix their latest signing. The 24-year-old joins on a three-year deal from Anderlecht for an undisclosed fee and reunites with Vincent Kompany, who he played under at the Belgian club.
Delcroix, who has made one senior appearance for his national side, said: “I heard on Monday or Tuesday last week that Burnley [were] interested in me. It went really quick. I had a phone call with Vinny and Saturday I was already on the plane.
“It was a very busy few days but I am happy to be here now. It’s a different competition, the Premier League. Everybody knows it. It’s the best competition in the world. It’s a big opportunity to come here and it’s a great team.”
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Delcroix was born in Haiti but moved to Belgium at the age of two and spent time at Antwerp and RBC Roosendaal before joining Anderlecht’s academy in 2013, making his senior debut five years ago.