By all accounts, Arsenal have had the deal for Sokratis wrapped up for quite some time now and the North London club have finally made an official announcement today on their website.
The announcement has been delayed as a result of the way in which the financial year in Germany is conducted. Evening Standard are reporting that Sokratis will join the Gunners in a £16m deal and the defender will sign a 3-year deal.
German publication RuhrNachrichten confirmed earlier in the day, that the deal is set to be announced today. This was made even clearer when Sokratis was spotted traveling and it is thought that he was on his way to London.
Getting Sokratis is a good deal for the Gunners as he is a strong defender who is quite tough. You need players like that when you are trying to reestablish yourself like the way Arsenal are trying to do. The Greek will arrive in London after a successful career in Germany where he has played for teams such as Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund.
Today being the day that new manager Unai Emery takes charge, it would be nice to see a signing being announced by the club. Arsenal need to sort out their defense as it was one of the weak links in the season that just got over.
Sokratis will become the third signing for Arsenal after the arrival of both Stephan Lichtsteiner and Bernd Leno. Another player that is expected to join the trio is the Uruguayan Lucas Torreira.
On the contract front, there has been talk of Calum Chambers being offered a new deal. This has led to some interesting reactions such as the one from former Arsenal player Perry Groves who had this to say, as per Talk Sport:
“Most Arsenal fans would say they don’t think at the moment Calum Chambers is good enough.“If you’re going to give a player a chance, surely you bring him in and say I really rate you, I’m going to give you a chance in pre-season, beginning of the season.
If you do well, then I’ll put your money up. Why would you put someone’s money up first if you haven’t proved yourself?”
Perhaps Chambers will be able to reach new heights under a new manager. And if he is able to learn a few tricks of the trade from a player such as Sokratis, it is only going to benefit Arsenal.
