Sokratis Papastathopoulos is a concrete option for AS Roma in the final hours on the transfer window, according to reports in Italy.

John Solano writes that a member of Sokratis’ entourage confirms that the defender is a concrete option for AS Roma on deadline day. At the moment, he’s just an option, with nothing yet in the final stages.

Roma were certainly on the market for a centre-back, but it looked like Chris Smalling was their primary target. However, after a full summer of negotiations, there’s still no progress on that one, and the BBC now report he’ll stay with Manchester United.

That leaves Roma looking elsewhere, and Sokratis is certainly available. Arsenal were looking to sell him to Napoli, a move that fell through when the Serie A side failed to sell Kalidou Koulibaly. But Sokratis could still end up in Italy in the end.

We’re running out of time, but with Thomas Partey now likely to join Arsenal, the club need some non-homegrown outgoings. Lucas Torreira is probably one, but ideally, we need two more. Sokratis joining Roma could suit both clubs nicely.