Three reasons why Arsenal have completed a sensational deal by signing Sokratis Papastathopoulos
Arsenal gaffer Unai Emery has been on a signing spree since taking over the reins from Arsene Wenger over a month ago. Following the signings of defender Stephan Lichtsteiner and goalkeeper Bernd Leno, the Gunners have sealed a deal £17.7m for prolific Greek international defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos.
The 30-year-old defender has donned the Greece national team jersey on 79 occasions. Now, let us take a look at three reasons why Sokratis Papastathopoulos will turn out to be an asset for the Premier League giants.
A Greek trailblazer
A player gets to represent his country on a regular basis only when he is found to be good on the green lush. Sokratis is one of those rare stars who was fortunate to have donned the national team jersey since his U17 days. The star defender played an integral part in Greece’s U17, U19 and U21 teams before making his senior debut over a decade back in 2008.
Sokratis has also played in some of the major international tournaments like the Euro 2012 and World Cup 2014. His stunning injury-time equalizer against Costa Rica during the World Cup in Brazil continues to be talked about after all these years.
A successful stint with Borussia Dortmund
Having spent an ordinary three years with big clubs like Werder Bremen and AC Milan, his arrival at Borussia Dortmund in 2013 turned out to be a huge break for Sokratis.
He became an integral part of the club over the next five years, representing the club in close to 200 matches in all competitions. He also helped the team win the German Super Cup consecutively in 2013 and 2014, as well as the DFB-Pokal in 2016/17, adding more value to his resume.
An adaptable player
During his time at Borussia Dortmund, Sokratis got to work with four different coaches. He played under the likes of Jurgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel, Peter Bosz and Peter Stoger, meaning he is quite adaptable by nature.
With his impressive performance on the pitch, Sokratis did not provide the slightest chance for any of the managers to replace him at the Westfalenstadion. Under each coach, he only became better.
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With the signings of Lichtsteiner, Sokratis and Bernd Leno, the Gunners have sent a stern warning to their rivals indicating that their defensive wall will be a hard one to break next season.
