On Tuesday, a story appeared in the Italian media claiming that AS Roma, in need of defensive reinforcements, could turn to Arsenal’s Sokratis Papastathopoulos.
The Greece international has struggled for game time since the arrival of Mikel Arteta, and with just one year left on his contract at the Emirates, an exit would make sense.
His experience in Italy with Genoa and Milan is a big benefit to interested Serie A sides, which now include Napoli, according to Tuttosport.
The idea here would be a swap between Nikola Maksimović and the Arsenal defender, which is seen as the ‘most plausible option’ to get rid of the Serbian.
It wouldn’t be ‘on par’, however, because Sokratis is three years older and on a much bigger wage.
Tuttosport then add ‘this operation is very far ahead’, and state that ‘as soon as it’s completed, it would radically change picture of central defenders for next season’.
That would leave Manolas with Gabriel Magalhães, Amir Rrahmani and Sokratis, with the Brazilian coming in for Kalidou Koulibaly if he is sold.
It’s Tuttosport, and we know they get excited by saying things that seem final, but we’re going to wait a little bit more before believing this, mostly because there’s not exactly been much about Maksimović and a move to the Emirates just yet.
