Arsenal close to making defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos their first signing of the Unai Emery era
- Arsenal have offered £12m for centre-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos
- Borussia Dortmund are holding out for £15.7m for the 29-year-old Greek player
- Arsenal want more defensive options due to Laurent Koscielny’s serious injury
Arsenal are hopeful of concluding talks with Borussia Dortmund for Greek defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos.
The London club have offered £12million for the 29-year-old centre-back with Dortmund holding out for £15.7million.
Recruitment director Sven Mislintat is keen to give Unai Emery options to work with in defence following the achilles injury suffered by Laurent Koscielny.
Arsenal are hopeful of concluding talks with Borussia Dortmund for Sokratis Papastathopoulos
Talks are also ongoing with 34-year-old Swiss international right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner, who is available on a free after leaving Juventus.
Lichtsteiner was also a target for Dortmund but his agent and brother are understood to have a strong relationship with Mislintat.
Arsenal have a limited budget but will also look to generate funds with sales. They retain interest in Freiburg’s Caglar Soyuncu and Jonny Evans of West Brom while they have made enquiries for midfielder Dennis Praet at Sampdoria and Lorenzo Pellegrini of Roma. A move for Sevilla goalkeeper Sergio Rico has also been discussed.
Arsenal have offered £12million to make the defender their first signing under Unai Emery
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