Borussia Dortmund chief refutes Arsenal agreement for Sokratis

Borussia Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc has stressed that Arsenal are yet to finalise an agreement to pursue the signature of Sokratis Papastathopoulos from their clutches. The Greece international has widely been tipped to join the north London giants this summer with reports emerging that a £16m deal has already been agreed.

Speaking to Revier Sport, Zorc admitted that Sokratis could be heading to the Emirates Stadium during the summer transfer window but the transfer has not been ‘completely finalised yet’. He said: “It is likely that he goes there, that’s right. But things are not completely finalised yet. And I will not work with you now and talk about the rumour mill, which includes 27 new Dortmund signings since the end of May.

“In the meantime, we are having fun ourselves and planning. We have clear ideas and I am very sure that we will put together a very good team. This will not necessarily be the case until the start of the season, because the coach wants to make an impression on the players who are under contract with us.”

Despite Zorc’s comments, the Gunners may not be worried over the situation with Sokratis appearing to have already made his mind up to join the club. Personally, the Greek has yet to speak on the prospective move but his father has previously opened up on the situation by literally confirming his switch to the Emirates Stadium.

New Gunners boss Unai Emery has shown a keen interest to complete most of the club’s transfer business before the start of pre-season and they have already secured the signings of Bernd Leno and Stephan Lichtsteiner from Bayer Leverkusen and Juventus respectively. A deal for Sampdoria’s Lucas Torreira also appears close to completion but an agreement could be delayed until the midfielder returns from World Cup duty with Uruguay.