Mikel Arteta ripped up player’s Arsenal contract in 2021, now he’s hoping to join Bayern Munich

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Sokratis Papastathopoulos is now hoping to join Bayern Munich in a shock move, two-and-a-half years after Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal terminated his contract.

The Greece international is currently a free agent after leaving Olympiacos in July. He is on the lookout for a new club, and if he gets his wish, he could become a new Bayern Munich player soon.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos is hoping to join Bayern Munich

Sokratis joined Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund back in 2018 and spent two-and-half years at the club.

The defender became a fan favourite at the Emirates early on in his time there. Everybody loved his warrior-like spirit, but his performance levels dropped a year or so into his Gunners career.

After Unai Emery was sacked and Mikel Arteta came in, Sokratis dropped down the pecking order. He played just 11 times under the current Arsenal boss and it became clear he had no place at the club.

In January 2021, Arteta, Arsenal and Sokratis himself decided to tear up his contract at the Emirates, and he was allowed to leave the club for free.

He went and joined Olympiacos, but after two and a half years there, he is now looking for a new challenge as he enters the final stage of his career.

Sky Sports journalist Florian Plettenberg has revealed on X that Sokratis has rejected a move to Real Betis in Spain because he’s hoping to join Bayern Munich, who are in desperate need of a new defender.

Thomas Tuchel knows him well

It really would be a shock move to see Bayern Munich sign Sokratis, but the German giants are in a desperate situation.

Dayot Upamecano and Matthijs De Ligt are both injured. As Plettenberg has pointed out above, Kim Min-jae is the only senior centre-back available at Thomas Tuchel’s disposal.

The German champions considered signing a free-agent in Jerome Boateng recently, but those talks didn’t work out. Now, Sokratis could be a potential option, and Tuchel knows him very well – the Greek international played 81 times under him at Borussia Dortmund.

If this move does happen, we won’t be surprised at all to see Sokratis play against Arsenal at some point in the Champions League this season.