Bayern Munich should sign Mavropanos if Sule leaves, says Matthaus

Arsenal defender Konstantinos Mavropanos should be on the list of defenders Bayern Munich target when Niklas Sule leaves the German giants, according to Lothar Matthaus.

Bayern Munich chairman Oliver Kahn confirmed Sule will leave the club when his contract expires this summer after failing to reach an agreement with the club over an extension.

Germany international Sule is unlikely to be short of offers this summer, as reports suggest Chelsea, Newcastle and Barcelona are all interested in snapping him up on a free.

But Matthaus feels Bayern should consider Mavropanos - who was signed by Arsenal in 2018 but is currently out on a second loan spell at Stuttgart - as a replacement along with RB Leipzig's Josko Gvardiol.

'I'm assuming that Bayern won't make any big improvements,' Matthaus wrote in his column for Sky Germany.

'If Sule were to leave, a trained defender might be more important than a central midfielder.

'There are some very interesting players in the Bundesliga. I'm thinking of Stuttgart's Mavropanos, Leipzig's Gvardiol or Bochum's Bella Kotchap.

'Everyone plays a really good role in the Bundesliga, would certainly be financially feasible for Bayern and could develop further under Nagelsmann.

'But I see it like [Hasan] Salihamidzic [Bayern's sporting director]. As of now, transfers are not necessary. With [Corentin] Tolisso and [Marc] Roca you also have to say that what you had hoped for from Nagelsmann, among other things, has happened.

'Namely that he really improved these players who were hardly used in the past or didn't convince. Both played really well and convinced in their last appearances.'

Mavropanos, 24, was signed in January 2018 from Greek side PAS Giannina for £1.8million but has only made only