Arsenal finally announced the signing of Greek defender, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, on Monday evening so let’s see what we know about the deal.

The 30-year-old will wear the number five shirt at the club, following in the footsteps of players like Steve Bould and Martin Keown.

If his first Arsenal photoshoot is anything to go by, he looks like he will do the shirt justice. Or, at the very least, his face will.

Sokratis Papastathopolus of Arsenal. Arsenal Training Ground, London Colney, Hertfordshire, 5th June 2018. Credit : Stuart MacFarlane / Arsenal Football Club.
Sokratis Papastathopolus of Arsenal. Arsenal Training Ground, London Colney, Hertfordshire, 5th June 2018. Credit : Stuart MacFarlane / Arsenal Football Club.

He will wear ‘Sokratis’ on the back, saving fans, who want to get his name on their shirt, an absolute fortune.

sokratis shirt

The fee, according to reports from Germany, is an initial €16m (£14.1m) however there are bonus payments structured into the deal which could see that rise to €20m (£17.7m).

The fee was agreed between the clubs a few weeks ago, however, Dortmund wanted to hold the announcement until the start of their new financial year at the start of July.

Sokratis has signed a three-year deal with Arsenal, keeping him tied to the club until 2021.

He was earning £90,000-per-week with Borussia Dortmund. It’s not clear what he will be earning at Arsenal or if he will have received a payrise.

Sead Kolasinac currently earns £120,000-per-week while Hector Bellerin is on £100k, Shkodran Mustafi £90k, Lauren Koscielny £75k and Nacho Monreal a ridiculous £65k.

However, new signing, Bernd Leno, is expected to earn £60k-per-week which is around what he was reportedly earning with Bayer Leverkusen in 15/16. Stephan Lichtsteiner will reportedly get close to the £35k-per-week he was earning at Juventus.