You may be wondering why Arsenal are yet to announce the signing of Sokratis from Borussia Dortmund. Afterall, it was back in May when the BBC said the Gunners were set to complete the signing.
Well this is due to Dortmund’s preferences, they’d like to announce the deal on July 1 because of their financial year starting. This is mainly due to the fact that they sold Dembele in their current financial year – so have no need for more profit…
Anyway back to Sokratis and the fact that the deal is done, despite no confirmation. The defender is going for ‘just’ £14million because he failed to agree an extension on his current deal at Dortmund, which has just one year remaining.
Mislintat was influential in bringing both Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan to the club in January and now he is set to add another former Borussia Dortmund player in Sokratis.
The Greek defender hasn’t had the best of seasons, but he is highly rated by Mislintat and others and would add experience and steel to an Arsenal backline that definitely is deficient in those areas.
Sokratis stands at 6ft 1′ and is known for his aggression and reliable passing statistics. Primarily a central defender, what will be useful for Arsenal is that Sokratis can also play at right-back – where the Gunners currently lack depth and quality.
Whilst Sokratis has struggled somewhat this season, too much shouldn’t be read into that as many Dortmund players have struggled under manager Stoger, and Sokratis of all the defenders, is the one Dortmund fans won’t want to see leave this season.
Arsenal are also thought to still be in the market for another defender, with the likes of Freiburg’s Çağlar Söyüncü heavily linked. The Gunners are also being linked with a move for French international Benjamin Pavard, who is an exciting prospect from Stuttgart.