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From Italy: Player wants move as Arsenal line-up defender swoop

By on April 6, 2018

According to reports in Italy via the Mirror, Sokratis Papastathopoulos is looking to leave Borussia Dortmund this summer and Arsenal are among the clubs vying for his signature.

Arsene Wenger is under pressure to revamp his squad at the end of the season following a disappointing domestic campaign and a new centre-back is a priority.

Laurent Koscielny has struggled with an Achilles injury this season and Per Mertesacker will retire in May so we need to bring in a replacement as neither Calum Chambers nor Rob Holding have been consistent enough.

It looks like we have a target in mind a the Mirror are citing a report from Gazzetta dello Sport that claims Wenger is now eyeing a swoop for Papastathopoulos after tracking the centre-back for several years.

The Italian publication says Papastathopoulos is keen to leave Dortmund in search of a fresh challenge this summer and Arsenal are looking to wrap-up a deal.

Papastathopoulos has been a solid defender since joining Dortmund from Werder Bremen in 2013 with almost 200 appearances under his belt while he also has 79 caps for the Greek national team.

The 29-year-old would bring some experience to the defence – which could be important when Mertesacker retires – and he’s certainly a  quality centre-back.

However, we aren’t the only in the running for his signature as the report says the likes of Man Utd, Chelsea and Juventus have also shown an interest so it’s going to be a tough battle to land Papastathopoulos this summer.

We’ll have to see how things develop but I’d personally prefer to see us targetting a slightly younger defender as Papastathopoulos turns 30 in June so may only have a couple of season left at the top level.