£16m Arsenal defender deal to be announced in July

Arsenal have reached a £16million deal with Borussia Dortmund to sign defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos, according to the Daily Telegraph.

The broadsheet claim the Greece centre-back will become Arsenal’s second summer signing and the second arrival of Unai Emery’s reign at The Emirates, however the deal will not be officially announced until next month.

Papastathopoulos has been heavily linked with the Gunners and on Monday Kicker claimed a £16million fee had been agreed between the two clubs.

The German source claimed that Papastathopoulos would also undergo a medical at Arsenal this week, after personal terms were agreed.

Sokratis, 29, who is entering the final year of his contract, will be a replacement for the retiring Per Mertesacker and, claims the report, will “likely to go straight into Emery’s starting team” and sign a three-year contract.

The Greek centre-back joined Dortmund in 2013 from Werder Bremen. Prior to that, he was part of AC Milan’s 2010-11 Serie A winning sqluad, although he played a limited role.

After already bringing in Stephan Lichsteiner from Juventus earlier this week on a free transfer, Sokratis is the second experienced defender that Emery will add to a squad, which will be without Laurent Koscielny at the start of next season.