Arsenal cancel defender Sokratis’ contract

Arsenal have said that defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos has had his contract terminated by mutual consent.

Sokratis’ deal was due to expire at the end of the season, but the 32-year-old has been freed up during the January transfer window to find a new club.

The Greek centre-back had spent two-and-a-half years at the Emirates Stadium, but had not been included in Mikel Arteta’s squads for the Premier League and Europa League this season.

The last competitive first-team game Sokratis appeared in for Arsenal was as a late substitute in the FA Cup final victory over Chelsea at Wembley in August at the end of last season.

But, having not been included in the 25-man squads for the Premier League or Europa League campaigns for the first half of the season, his sole outing in an Arsenal shirt in 2020-21 came in the Football League Trophy against AFC Wimbledon in December.

In total, Sokratis made 69 appearances for the Gunners after joining the club from Borussia Dortmund in a £14 million transfer in the summer of 2018.

Goal reported earlier in January that Real Betis are interested in a deal and that Sokratis would be keen on a move to La Liga.

However, it is understood that Betis will need to sell players first as they are struggling under the Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules enforced by La Liga and need to reduce their wage budget before they can make any major signings.

Betis are looking at ways to offload either Sidnei or William Carvalho to free up the funds for Sokratis, who had been earning £5m a year at Arsenal.

Sokratis would also be open to returning to Germany or playing in Italy, with Napoli having shown an interest in taking him to Serie A during the last summer transfer window.