The player is expected for a medical in the coming days
Arsenal endured an underwhelming season as they failed to win any silverware in Arsene Wenger’s final campaign. They finished 6th in the Premier League, reached the Carabao Cup final and the Europa League semi-final.
Unai Emery has been appointed as the new manager of the Gunners and is expected to be very busy in the summer transfer window in order to strengthen the squad for next season.
The Premier League giants have already completed the signings of Stephan Lichtsteiner and Bernd Leno. They are also reportedly close to signing Sampdoria midfielder Lucas Torreira.
The Spaniard has prioritized signing a central defender this summer. Laurent Koscielny is out until November, Per Mertesacker has retired at the end of the season and Shkodran Mustafi has had a difficult campaign last season.
Sokratis Papastathopoulos was identified as one of Emery’s prime transfer targets after he took over from Wenger. He has been linked with a move to them since May, with negotiations have been ongoing for several weeks.
Club’s new head of recruitment, Sven Mislintat, has worked with the centre-back before in Germany and believes he would be a useful addition at Emirates Stadium. He played an influential part in January signings of Mavropanos, Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan.
The 30 year old joined the Bundesliga giants from Werder Bremen in 2013 and established himself as mainstay of club’s defense. He has made more than 200 appearances for them.
The Greece International enjoyed another solid campaign with the club last season, managing to make 43 appearances in all competitions.
Arsenal are close to signing Sokratis from Dortmund after agreeing a fee of €20 million for the Greece defender according to The Guardian. He is set to become the club’s third signing this summer.
On Wednesday, Dortmund’s sporting director Michael Zorc had also confirmed that a deal was close but it is understood the defender is expected for a medical in the coming days.
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