According to Football.London, Arsenal have agreed a £16m deal with Borussia Dortmund for their highly-rated Greek defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos this summer. The experienced centre-back has passed a medical but Kicker report the transfer won’t be confirmed until July.
Dortmund want the deal to go through after the current financial year, meaning Sokratis won’t be announced until July 1 at the earliest. As Greece didn’t make it to the 2018 World Cup this summer, the 30-year-old will be at Arsenal for the first day of pre-season (Monday, July 2).
Head of Recruitment Sven Mislintat is overhauling the defence this summer. Arsenal have a lack of experienced heads across the backline which is why Stephan Lichtsteiner was brought in from Juventus earlier this month. He’ll provide backup to Hector Bellerin and will be a leader on and off the pitch.
Sokratis is another player whose experience will be invaluable to Arsenal, as three of the Gunners’ five centre-backs are under the age of 24 – Konstantinos Mavropanos (20), Rob Holding (22), Calum Chambers (23).
The Dortmund defender has made 198 appearances in all competitions in his five years playing for the Bundesliga giants, winning the DFB-Pokal & German Supercup.
Stats from Transfermarkt.
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