Arsenal are close to completing a £16m deal to bring Borussia Dortmund’s Sokratis Papastathopoulos to the club as Unai Emery’s first signing.
According to Kicker on Monday, Arsenal and Dortmund were slightly apart on price, with the Gunners offering €15m for the 29-year-old, who has one year left on his contract, while the Germans were holding out for €18m.
The Telegraph are today reporting that a £16m deal (which would represent the €18m that Dortmund wanted) is all but done for the centreback who would go straight into the Arsenal starting lineup after he ends his 10-year stay with Dortmund.
Kicker were claiming that the only thing that had to be sorted out was the fee between the two clubs. With the Telegraph’s report above, and David Ornstein tweeting (below) on Monday, it seems like that has also been sorted.
As per @JackPittBrooke Arsenal close to signing Sokratis Papastathopoulos from Dortmund. Latest acquisition led by Sven Mislintat, continues drive to rebuild defence/squad with experience/leadership. #AFC prioritising ready players & will integrate youth (eg Mavropanos) over time
— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) May 28, 2018