The Gunners closing in on their first summer signing

Arsenal close to completing £16m deal for Sokratis Papastathopoulos.

Unai Emery is a huge admirer of the Borussia Dortmund defender.

Arsenal are in advanced negotiations to bring him to the Emirates and have initially offered £13m but they are expected to meet Dortmund’s asking price of £16m to complete the deal this week.

Sokratis has one year left on his Dortmund contract and is eager to join Arsenal. He has played for Dortmund for five years, joining from Werder Bremen and has lots of experience.

He has also 79 caps for the national team, representing them at Euro 2012 and the 2014 World Cup.

This could be the first signing of Arsenal which paves way to Unai Emery era.