Arsenal are set to complete the signing of Sokratis Papastathopoulos on a £17m deal from Borussia Dortmund, as Daily Star.
The 29-year-old centre-back has been on Unai Emery’s radar to add leadership and experience to the Arsenal backline following the nasty injury suffered by Laurent Koscielny.
The 13-time league champions have been after Papastathopoulos for several weeks with a deal for the defender proving a lot more difficult.
Starsport reports that the final details of the deal are being sorted out and that he could be announced as an Arsenal player as soon as next week. Emery has made the strengthening of the Arsenal defence his main priority having brought in the likes of goalkeeper, Bernd Leno, and defender Stephan Lichtsteiner already signed by the Spanish tactician.
Papastathopoulos, 30 is a defender known for his tackling and leadership attributes with Arsenal crying out for a force of nature at the back. Arsenal shipped a lot of goals last season in what was Arsene Wenger’s final season at The Emirates Stadium.
Emery wants his backline to be solid as he believes in building from the back, with the signing of defensive midfielder, Lucas Torreira also expected to be announced shortly in a £27m move from Sampdoria. The Greek defender is one of the best centrebacks in Germany and would offer more protection to an Arsenal backline that has suffered its own spate of individual errors in recent years.
Arsenal will play PSG in a pre-season game next month before playing Chelsea in Dublin on August 1 before beginning the Unai Emery era with a home game against league champions, Manchester City.