Sokratis Papastathopoulos won’t be part of a defensive summer clear out at Arsenal, according to reports, despite doubts about many of his teammates at the back.
The Mirror claim Sokratis ‘will avoid being a victim’ of the defensive reshuffle at Arsenal this summer. He’s reportedly been told his place is safe ahead of an imminent clear out at the club.
There are rumours that Arsenal will accept a bid meeting their valuation for Calum Chambers, and that they want to move Shkodran Mustafi on. There are also doubts over Laurent Koscielny’s long-term future, according to the Mirror. However, Sokratis appears to have his spot in the squad guaranteed for the 2019/20 season.
Koscielny previously suggested he’s thinking of moving on from Arsenal when his current contract expires in 2020. For the time being, he’s still putting in good performances for the team and he’s the club captain, so he seems the least likely of the above trio to leave this summer.
The difference with Mustafi and Chambers is they’re both young with over two years left on their contracts. That means they could bring in a decent fee and allow Arsenal to reinvest.
As with Koscielny, that’s unlikely to be the case with Sokratis, who is now 30. Given the Greek international’s good performances this season, he’ll probably be worth more to The Gunners’ starting XI than he’d bring in if sold this summer. We’ll see what happens in a few months’ time.