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Arsenal’s Greek defender Sokratis Papastathapoulos is a man in demand.
He has been contacted by Serie A side Genoa who have made an offer to sign the centre-back who played for them between 2008 and 2010. He is being lined up as an alternative to Denis Vavos whose proposed transfer from Lazio has collapsed because of injury concerns.
Reports from Greece and Turkey suggest that both Olympiakos and Fenerbahe are also interested in signing the 32-year-old.
Sokratis was linked with a move to Napoli in the summer, but that came to naught after Kalidou Koulibaly decided to stay put in Southern Italy.
Sokratis has not played for the Gunners since appearing as a last-minute substitute in the FA Cup Final in August, and has been left out of both the club’s Premier League and Europa League squads.
Given he is out of contract in the summer, Arsenal are unlikely to demand a fee for him, happy just to get his wages off the books.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.