Arsenal reportedly turned down a surprise late transfer bid from Paris Saint-Germain for Sokratis Papastathopoulos.
The Greece international has not been the most convincing performer in his time at the Emirates Stadium, though he previously looked solid at former club Borussia Dortmund.
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Sokratis may well have been a useful option for PSG due to the slower pace of the game in Ligue 1, but it’s still somewhat surprising to see this link appear, as reported below by Telefoot Chaine journalist Saber Desfarges…
??Info @telefoot_chaine
Sokratis proposé au PSG.
Le Paris SG s’est penché sur la situation du défenseur d’Arsenal, connu de Leonardo et Thomas Tuchel.
Paris s’est renseigné pour récupérer le joueur libre.
Refus d’Arsenal.
Dossier clos. #mercato— Saber Desfarges (@SaberDesfa) October 5, 2020
Arsenal may still have a role for Sokratis in their first-team this season as they decided to keep the 32-year-old, but it’s hard to see him getting much of a look-in ahead of the likes of David Luiz, Rob Holding and summer signing Gabriel Magalhaes.
PSG had a pretty quiet summer overall, and could perhaps have benefited from defensive cover after losing long-serving club captain Thiago Silva on a free transfer to Chelsea.