Various sources reporting that we are ‘close’ to signing Sokratis Papastathopoulos for around £15-£17.5m from BVB.
Sokratis joined BVB the same season (2013-14) as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan with Sven Mislintat playing a key role in bringing all three to the club. May not have been my first choice for a new CB but looks reliable and if the transfer fee is right, it could be good business for an experienced defender, particularly if we only have £50m to spend on transfer sales.
He was a different animal alongside Hummels. Since the departure of Hummels, Sokratis has declined as a player. Been guilty of many errors & poor positioning. Still an upgrade on Mustafi though IMO.
I’m not sure if Sven is trying to reunite the Dortmund players here but I really do hope his knowledge of players expands beyond players currently at Dortmund.
I think this makes a lot of sense. A lot of the issues we have at the back are coaching related. A signing that is competitive for the young guys like Chambers and Holding and even Mavropanos rather than someone who is going to blow them out of contention altogether will be better for the overall health of the squad. With the right coaching I could see it working.
Plus, we are clearly on a budget and can’t see us doing better for the price tag suggested here.
He’s been out of form since Hummels departure - so again, what he will bring to the side. It doesn’t make sense, unless he is a Mustafi replacement.
What I do know is that Mavro is rated highly at the club - Sokartis and Mavro also share the same agent - it may be that Sokratis will help Mavro slowly integrate into the side.
I’m trying to be positive - and I hope Sokratis improves under a new manager, at a new club. But I rather we had gone for a young CB (ie Soyuncu) since we are looking to rebuild the side.