Arsenal are reportedly on the cusp of securing the signature of Sokratis Papastathopoulos from Borussia Dortmund, according to the Greek’s father.
The 29-year-old has been linked with the Gunners since the close of the Premier League season and his father has now confirmed in a local interview that the centre-back will secure the move in the next 24 hours.
Papastathopoulous is currently in England finalising the necessary formalities regarding a £16m move and his father Charalambos has highlighted that the Greek has supposedly snubbed interest from arch-rivals Manchester United.
“There was interest from United but he had to wait until July for them. United have a very good relationship with Dortmund, the teams talked but Sokratis chose to go to Arsenal,” he is quoted as saying by The Mirror.
“Arsenal had talked two years ago but I don’t know why he didn’t sign. He is happy, he is in England at the moment, and tomorrow [Tuesday] he will be doing what he has to do, the typical things, everything will go well, he is happy, he is changing.”
Sokratis had the choice between United and Arsenal for the summer but the Gunners have genuinely appeared as the better prospect with the opportunity of him establishing as the first-choice centre-back.
With Laurent Koscielny injured for the long-term, the Gunners are in need of an experienced centre-back who can guide the club with his leadership skills and Papastathopoulos perfectly fits the bill, though his performances are likely to be judged.
Meanwhile, the Gunners are also looking into a move for Juventus’ Stephan Lichtsteiner but a Bosman agreement has yet to be reached.
The Swiss has refused to give away anything with regards to the move and has insisted that negotiations are still ongoing over whom he would join during the summer.
