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Close to joining Napoli back in the summer, Sokratis Papastathopoulos only narrowly missed out on a reunion with Gennaro Gattuso due to Napoli’s inability to find a deal with Manchester City for Kalidou Koulibaly.

This meant the Greek defender had to stay at Arsenal for the first half of the season, where he has been entirely unused by Mikel Arteta following the acquisition of Gabriel Magalhaes from Lille.

With a contract expiring in the summer, the 32-year-old will be a cheap option for any interested club, which now includes Genoa.

This comes from Corriere dello Sport, who explain the Serie A side have turned their attention to the Greece international in January, going as far as offering him a contract.

The newspaper point out that ‘despite the various requests, he would be carefully evaluating the possibility of returning’ to the Italian league, where he has already played in the past with both Milan and… Genoa.

That’s a big bonus for the club managed by Davide Ballardini, as he would need little adapting to his surroundings, and which is probably why they have put a two and a half year deal in front of him in the hope of enticing him.

Certainly something to consider for Sokratis, who probably would cost much, such is Arsenal’s desire to offload the deadweight in the next few weeks.