Possible destinations for Sokratis Papastathopoulos

Sokratis Papastathopoulos’ Arsenal contract was terminated by mutual consent on Wednesday after being excluded from the team’s first photo by head coach Mikel Arteta.

The Greek was not signed up for the Premier League or the Europa League during the first half of the campaign, and the two sides opted to end his stay at the club mutually with his ongoing contract this summer.

During his time in north London, Sokratis made 69 appearances for the club and scored six goals, and although he is not part of Arteta’s plans for 2020/21, the boss has always described him as “Such a professional” after the news. of its outlet broke.

Arteta also explained why he failed to make the cut for his 25-man squads, simply stating that the Gunners had “a lot of center-backs” and that they were “overloaded with foreign players” he didn’t. no choice but to exclude it.

Now the 32-year-old, who had already been linked with a number of clubs once the transfer window opened earlier this month, is free to immediately move on and hopefully for him to start over. to play regular football.

Speaking on The Chronicles of a Gooner podcast, Fabrizio Romano confirmed to 90 mins what some of his options are, even referring to a past offer to Liverpool – who have been hit by a number of injuries to key defenders this season.

Here’s where he could go now that the North London chains are up.

Sokratis is no stranger to Genoa, having already made 59 appearances for I Rossoblu.

Romano confirmed that the club had contacted him again and were “still interested in signing Papastathopoulos”, even though he managed to secure a deal with center-back Jerome Onguéné of Salzburg.

Sokratis has already plied his trade in the Premier League, Serie A and Bundesliga, but has yet to set foot in Spain and play in La Liga.

That could change, however, if Manuel Pellegrini’s Real Betis decide to take a slight interest in the Greece international. Romano confirmed that the Sevilla-based club were an ‘option’ but stopped short of saying that talks had taken place and, if so, how far things had gone.

Genoa are not the only club to have been linked with a move for Sokratis, as the always impressive Lazio are also enthusiastic.

Romano said that “” Lazio are considering moving for a center-back because they had a problem with Luiz Felipe “and they are seeing” Sokratis as a possibility “because of that.

Playing at Stadio Olimpico under Simone Inzaghi would probably be Sokratis’ preferred option, but he may not be guaranteed a regular starting spot when the injuries have cleared up.

Romano did not mention the interest of Olympiacos, but the Greek giants have been presented as potential suitors.

A return to his home country might suit Sokratis now that he is heading into the twilight of his career and would likely result in more frequent and regular starting opportunities than he would get in mainland Europe.

Likewise, Fenerbahce’s interest was not addressed by Romano, but the Turkish giants – who almost finished signing Mesut Ozil after his contract with Arsenal was terminated – are also in the mix.

The Premier League tends to send over 30 players to Turkey once their peak days are over, so Sokratis is linked with a move shouldn’t come as a surprise.