Arsenal: Manchester United Sokratis edge changes a little

Sokratis Papastathopoulos’ father confirmed that his son will sign a three-year deal with Arsenal. He also revealed that Manchester United were interested. That tidbit does change my perspective a little.

It looks as though Arsenal are nearing their first acquisition of the post-Arsene Wenger era. As reports have suggested for several weeks now, the Gunners are closing out an alleged £16 million deal for Borussia Dortmund centre-half Sokratis Papastathopoulos.

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The deal has been met with a mixed response. He is a centre-half, which is obviously nice given the destitute need of the team to address the position this summer, but he is coming off one of the worst seasons of his career in a leaky Dortmund defence that he was at least in part responsible for.

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Certainly, I was a little underwhelmed by the news. I was wanting a more significant upgrade on the young talent that is already at the Emirates. Sokratis, in my opinion, and especially at 29, is not that.

Having said that, the comments of Sokratis’ father to Greek radio station, Radio 24/7, are a little perspective-changing. Here is what he had to say:

"“It’s for three years plus one, which Sokratis arranges to, I think. Arsenal had talked [with Papastathopoulos] two years ago, but I do not know why the deal did not work then. There was interest from Manchester United but for July, he had to wait until July for United. United have a very good relationship with Dortmund, the teams speak a lot, but Sokratis chose to go to Arsenal. He is happy, he is in England at the moment. Tomorrow [Tuesday] everything will be done and made formal, everything will go well.”"

The first thing to say is that it seems as though the deal is a question of when and not if. Given the concerning extension of the delay, that is somewhat reassuring. But what was more significant for me was the revelation that Manchester United were also interested in the Greek international’s services.

If there is a manager in world football that I trust to highlight a top-tier defender that will improve his defence, it is Jose Mourinho. There are many reasons for me to dislike the man, and I do certainly dislike the man, but I must admit that his ability to recognise talent, especially defensive talent, is excellent.

If Mourinho was indeed interested in Sokratis, as Charalambos Papastathopoulos claims, then that does shift my perspective on the defender a little. Yes, I still have the same worries over his performance level last season, his age, and the lack of a significant upgrade over other options already at the squad, but perhaps Arsenal and Mourinho both see something more than I do.

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I am willing to trust in their evaluations of the player. They may not be what I believe, but both organisations are far more intelligent and have far more resources than I do. If Mourinho rates Sokratis, then who am I disavow?