Arsenal £18m Star Wanted by European Giants in January

Arsenal are set for some defining transfer windows.

January is but a month away and the club are expected to be active (or at least try) with potential arrivals, although there are also some cast members that ideally Arsenal would ship.

It will be in the summer where a quite considerable overhaul will take place, with Mesut Ozil, David Luiz, Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos all seeing their contracts expire. On top of that quartet, deadwood needs dealing with along with some players who will have just one year left on their deals.

However, some work in that department could be fast-tracked by six months based on the talk coming out of Italy.

As per Calcio Mercato, Juventus’ defensive shortcomings could force them to make movements of their own in the coming winter. Giorgio Chiellini has sustained another injury, with no recovery time set on his return while the issue is assessed.

https://twitter.com/SokratisPapa5/status/1329828256179236871

It will grant Andrea Pirlo the chance to bolster his centre-back ranks in January, with Sokratis’ name listed among a series of options I Bianconeri have drawn up.

Two Bayern Munich players are on the list in David Alaba and Jerome Boateng, the former more keen on moving to Spain while talk in the UK suggests Chelsea also hold a keen interest. Regarding Boateng, he will leave Bavaria in the summer when his deal expires but convincing Bayern to part with him mid-season will prove tricky.

Samuel Umtiti is on the list but remains perennially crocked, while Fiorentina’s Nikola Milenković won’t come cheap. With that in mind, Sokratis doesn’t look like too bad of an option.

Not included in either the Premier League or Europa League squads, his only football this term has come in Under-23 matches – the rules state this is allowed despite him being ten years above the usual threshold.

Signed for £17.7m and now sitting on wages of £93k-per-week, he would scoop close to £300k between now and his deal expiring, welcome space on the wage bill and in the squad for other arrivals further down the line. Juventus would be securing a consummate professional with bags of experience, likely for a nominal fee.

For a player at his age, who has briefly dabbled in Serie A before, to get the chance to play Champions League football and win trophies wouldn’t go amiss, one would imagine. It’d suit all parties.