It looks like Arsenal defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos will finally leave the club in January as Italian club Genoa are looking favourites to sign the defender. The Greece international’s current contract expires in the summer and Arsenal will be keen to sell on the defender for a fee instead of letting him go for free in the next window.
Just looking at the current Arsenal squad, it is clearly visible that a massive clear out was sorely needed. A major portion of their squad consists of players who had been brought in as panic buys and are nowhere near the quality Arsenal need at the moment. It appears that Arteta has taken it upon himself to clear out the fringe players that was plainly required if new signings were to be brought in.
Mikel Arteta announced at the start of this month that a massive squad overhaul was needed to trim the size of the first team players at the club. Left-back Sead Kolasinac moved back to Germany on a loan move with Schalke on a six month loan, while French youngster William Saliba was sent out on loan to Nice for his development. The 19-year-old was brought in on a massive £27m transfer but was yet to make his debut for the Gunners despite spending over half a season at the Emirates. Sokratis, Mustafi and Mesut Ozil have all expected to make a move on within the next month or so.
Sokratis was quite recently linked to Turkish giants Fenerbahce who were reportedly aiming to make a swoop for both Sokratis and Mesut Ozil. However it appears that Sokratis has called off the transfer and Genoa now appears to be his final destination.
Italian football journalist Gianluca Di Marzio reports that Genoa have agreed to sign the 32-year-old on a two and a half year contract. Sokratis had played for Genoa for two years in an earlier stint back in 2008, before moving to the Bundesliga and eventually to the Premier League with Arsenal.
It is expected that a deal similar to Kolasinac will be carried out, where the Greek international will be loaned out for a period of six months, where a partial amount of salary will be paid by Arsenal before joining Genoa in a full transfer next year. The transfer is in the best interests of both clubs, as the player is already known to the management of Genoa and will take very less time to settle in, and Arsenal will be quickly able to focus on confirming moves for more fringe players.
