Arsenal star reveals which duo convinced him to join the club

The player joined the Gunners this summer

Arsenal signed Sokratis Papastathopoulos from Borussia Dortmund for a reported fee of £17.6 million, signing a long term contract in the summer. He was one of the five summers made by the club’s new manager Unai Emery.

The centre-back joined the Bundesliga giants from Werder Bremen back in 2013 and made more than 200 appearances for them. He enjoyed another solid campaign with the club last term, made 43 appearances across all the competitions.

The Greece International has started in all the 6 Premier League fixtures so far this season under the Spaniard as the Gunners have won 4 and lost 2.

The 30 year old has revealed that he spoke to former Dortmund stars Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan before agreeing to make the switch to the Emirates and says they convinced him that Arsenal was the right club for him.

‘I expected to start every game because I came here to be an important player for the team, and I’m very happy about this,’ Sokratis told Sky Sports as quoted by Metro.

‘I spoke with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang [about joining Arsenal] and they convinced me that this is a club I have to choose.

‘They gave me the feeling that I would be an important player here and that this club works to get better and better in the future.

‘In the end it wasn’t a hard decision to take.’

He added: ‘It’s one of the biggest clubs in the world.

‘The last years weren’t as successful as the past but we are here to work hard for this to give the club the success that it needs.’