Apparently close to signing Sokratis Papastathopoulos from Borussia Dortmund, do Arsenal really need to sign another centre-back on top of the Greece international?
According to Le360 in Morocco, it’s certainly something they’re thinking about, with Mehdi Benatia an alleged target for the Gunners.
The Juventus defender, who just enjoyed a very good season with the Serie A champions, is currently focusing on getting ready for the World Cup, meaning he isn’t thinking about his club future these days.
However, once the international competition comes to an end for his country, that could change, especially if Arsenal come knocking, as Le360 explain Benatia isn’t ‘indifferent’ to the idea of signing there.
A lot of that has to do with the Premier League, and with the Gunners facing a second season in a row without Champions League (a competition the centre-back likes to play in), they’ll need to be very convincing.
The Moroccan website believe a fee of around €25m should be enough for Juventus to let the 31-year-old leave, but Arsenal would then have to offer him a deal worthy of his status.
To us, this sounds more like an alternative to Papastathopoulos rather than a complementary signing.
Unless Emery really doesn’t like Shkodran Mustafi, that is.
