Napoli and Arsenal in talks over Sokratis

Talks between Napoli and Arsenal for the transfer of Sokratis Papastathopoulos are well underway, reports in Italy and England confirm.

Napoli are trying to broker Sokratis’ return to Serie A, having already opened discussions with Arsenal over the prospect of signing their outcast.

The versatile 32-year-old defender spent three years in Italy’s top-flight with Genoa and AC Milan, before departing for Werder Bremen in 2011.

Sokratis got to the Emirates through Borussia Dortmund, putting pen to paper on a three-year contract in 2018.

However, after registering 19 Premier League starts in 2019/20, Mikel Arteta has opted against keeping the Greece international beyond the summer.

Napoli, who are preparing for life after Kalidou Koulibaly, have offered to take Sokratis back to Italy, according to Italian journalist Nicolo Shira.

Shira is confident the £17.6million acquisition will leave London in the next few weeks and probably join the Partenopei.

Sokratis’ potential arrival at the San Paolo will exclude the signing of Gabriel Magalhaes, who’s been heavily linked with a move to either Arsenal or Napoli.

The Londoners’ pursuit of the highly-rated Lille centre-back has, therefore, received a massive boost.

With Napoli pulling out of the race for the Brazilian starlet to focus their attention on snapping up Sokratis, the Gunners may have just killed two birds with one stone.

The path leading to Gabriel’s signature has been cleared, with Arteta also offered the possibility to offload the surplus-to-requirements Greek defender.