West Ham United are moving their way to the top-of-the-table in the Championship and Konstantinos Mavropanos is key to that, with the Greece international centre-back now attracting the attention of Besiktas and, surprisingly, Burnley.

West Ham were relegated from the Premier League last season but with manager Nuno Espirito Santo and captain Jarrod Bowen staying put, the expectation has remained through the summer and the start of this season that The Irons would immediately return to the top-flight.

They have started the season extremely well and a slender 1-0 defeat of Swansea City last weekend continued their rise back to the very top, moving a point behind The Swans in first position.

As well as Bowen, West Ham were able to keep hold of a few other key players in the summer as they raised money through the sales of Mateus Fernandes and Crysencio Summerville to Tottenham Hotspur and Al Hilal respectively.

One of those key men that remained at the London Stadium and has been instrumental in their early season success is former Arsenal defender Mavropanos.

Burnley have been warned off a move for West Ham star Konstantinos Mavropanos

West Ham will want to become a bit tighter as the season goes on, with that impressive and controlled performance away at Swansea perhaps the blueprint moving forward.

Even with the room for improvement in terms of the goals against column, having shipped 12 in 11 games, they have remained strong at the back, with Mavropanos key to that.

The Greek defender has also been a major threat going forward with five goals scored thus far, only bettered by five players in the Championship, and his form is attracting reported interest from Turkish Süper Lig giants Besiktas.

Not only that, but the report from Turkey suggests that Championship strugglers Burnley - who came down with West Ham last season but have managed just one win in 11 games as they sit in the bottom three and the relegation places - are also keen on the Greek goalscoring defender.

The interest is therefore somewhat surprising, and it is interesting that FLW’s West Ham Fan pundit, Ryan Horn, does not believe should be taken seriously, with a high price tag surely set to be demanded.

Ryan told FLW: “I think £40 million for him to go to Türkiye would be good – it would be brilliant money.

“He’s in the race for the golden boot in the Championship, very mad to say, but – Burnley? No.

“If Burnley want him, throw ridiculous money out there and see if they will pay it.

“Even then, we shouldn’t sell him. He is just amazing. I wouldn’t want him to go at all because getting a replacement in, to have the impact that he has straight away, it would need to be someone who, as soon as they step onto the pitch, you can’t buy that, unfortunately.

“As much as we need to improve in certain areas, I think selling him will be a step back.

“I think £40 million-plus, if the Turkish teams are serious, but Burnley – overcharge them.

"They’ve got that parachute money, see if they are dumb enough to take the bait and then just deny it anyway while they are spending time to negotiate with us to get Mavropanos, get him on a new deal, and then they’ve wasted time on a centre-back in a very important part of the window.

“Just play mind games with them; we’re the better team in claret, we’re the best team in claret.”

Konstantinos Mavropanos has developed into a key man at West Ham

Having come through at PAS Giannina, Konstantinos Mavropanos made a move to Arsenal at the age of just 20 before loan moves to Nuremberg and then Stuttgart.

After failing to breakthrough properly into the first-team with just eight appearances for The Gunners, Mavropanos eventually departed the Emirates Stadium for Stuttgart on a permanent basis in the summer of 2022.

A year later, he was poached by a West Ham side that were embarking upon a UEFA Europa League run to the quarter-finals and also finished ninth in the Premier League under the management of David Moyes.

He went on to become more of a key man in the following couple of seasons but did have moments that made West Ham supporters doubt his quality and consistency.

Remaining with the club as they dropped into the Championship was still a surprise, though, and he is spearheading their ascent to the top of the division now.

Internationally, Mavropanos is a key man for Ivan Jovanovic’s ever-improving and impressive Greece side that are looking to qualify for UEFA EURO 2028 and reach a first major tournament since FIFA World Cup 2014 with a squad that boasts the likes of Konstantinos Tzolakis, Konstantinos Koulierakis, Giannis Konstantelias, Konstantinos Karetsas, Christos Tzolis, Vangelis Pavlidis and Tasos Douvikas.

The next couple of years could see Mavropanos really go on to fulfill the potential he showed that brought about his move to Arsenal and West Ham must really try to avoid the temptation of cashing in on the 28-year-old this winter.