Sven Mislintat wants Arsenal to sign Sokratis from Borussia Dortmund this summer, and the player’s agent has already contacted the club, according to reports.
German publication Bild, usually one of the more reliable sources for Arsenal information in the country, claims the club’s head of recruitment has his eyes set on the 29-year-old to bolster the defence this summer.
The Greek defender would cost around €20m (£17.4m) according to the report. That’s a very affordable fee, which could be especially important if Arsenal have a limited transfer budget as some are speculating.
Given Mislintat’s recommendations to Arsène Wenger so far, the move makes perfect sense.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang joined in January from Dortmund, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan also played for the German side. Clearly the head of recruitment figures if it worked for his old club, it can work for his current one. We’ll see if the new manager replacing Wenger agrees.
Sokratis has been a consistent figure in the Dortmund defence this season, as usual. He is up to 41 appearances for the season, a number of which as the captain of the side.
Recently their back line has had mixed results though. They have three clean sheets in their last five games but also a 6-0 defeat, to Bayern Munich. He’ll fit in perfectly at Arsenal then.