Arsenal: Questions still looming about Sokratis signing

Arsenal interest towards Greek center back Sokratis Papastathopolous is very high and reports of a deal being agreed is close, but there are many factors to why the Greek may pose more questions than answers if he was to arrive.

Arsenal are close to agreeing a deal with Greek and Borussia Dortmund Defender Sokratis Papastathopolous making him the first post Wenger era signing. At a fee of around £15 million for a 29 year old seems very ordinary in today’s inflated market, but there are still some questions looming over his signing if the deal goes through.

Buying the third former Dortmund player in under a 12 months may seem like we’re turning into the Borussia Dortmund of England, and in every sense we are very identical. Dortmund and Arsenal both play an attractive brand of attacking football, both have fallen short of expectations in recent season, both nurture and breed new talent, and both are struggling with their defensive identity.

With that being said, Sokratis appeared 30 times for Dortmund during the recent Bundesliga campaign in which Dortmund finished fourth on 55 points, joint with Hoffenheim at third and Bayer Leverkusen at 5th. Dortmund lost 9 and drew 10 of their 34 games played in the season, having a goal difference of only 17.

Whilst Borussia Dortmund did get off to a flying start to their campaign, only conceding twice in their first 8 games and Sokratis playing in all eight, they would go on to have a very average season for their standards in which their defense conceded a total of 48 goals. Dortmund would also concede in every game of their Champions League campaign in which they would go all 6 games without a win, ending on a -6 goal difference, clearly being very fragile in defense.

At 29 years old, the Greek center back is visibly not the fastest player in the world and with his increasing age (turning 30 in June), he isn’t going to get any faster. Whilst pace may not be everything for a center back, it is a big asset to have when playing against pacey forwards the Premier League offers.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

It’s also worthy to note that if Allegri was to come to Arsenal instead of Arteta, would Sokratis be the type of player he’d want? Allegri is well known for his defensive tactics and if he were to be in charge at the Emirates, would he not go for a more Italian defense?

Sokratis is by no means a bad player, he’d be a very good player to have within the squad, although falling short of being a first choice center back. Whether he is just a short term option or a partner for the number of center backs at the club, Arsenal still need to go and invest much more on a proven world class center back that can sort the defense like Van-Dijk has for Liverpool, which the Greek International may not be able to do.

Visibly, his tackling is his strongest asset, and from watching him in previous games, he has great composure and footwork for a center back. But is he any different from a Shkodran Mustafi? Mustafi’s assets are his tackling and his hardness, similar qualities to that of Sokratis, so are we just buying an older Mustafi?

It begs many questions such as are we buying him a a replacement for an outgoing center back, are we going to use him as one of our main defenders for the season or are we buying him as a backup player that can come in and do the job when the first choice is not available?

Next: 5 Things Learned Against Huddersfield

Whatever the case may be, fans can only hope and trust the player turn out to be a real leader among men within the back line.

Home/Arsenal Transfer Rumours