Borussia Dortmund Defender Wanted By Three Premier League Clubs
Reuters / Jean-Paul Pelissier
If reports in German publication Bild are to be believed, Manchester United are set to go head to head with their rivals Arsenal and Chelsea for Borussia Dortmund’s Sokratis Papastathopoulos.
The Greek defender joined Dortmund in 2013, and since then, he has been a rock at the back in the 155 appearances he has made for the German club.
Despite enjoying an impressive 2016-17 season, Papastathopoulos appears to be frustrated with the lack of titles he has won with BVB, and he has already stated that time is running out for him to add more medals to his cabinet.
Speaking to the press ahead of Dortmund’s DFB Pokal final against Eintracht Frankfurt, he stated: “If you’re young, you have a lot of time to win things. But I’m not young any more, time is getting shorter and I really want to win a title.”
However, during his four-year stay at Westfalenstadion so far, the 29-year-old has added just two German Super Cups and a German Cup to his name.
Meanwhile, the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea have been monitoring the former AC Milan defender’s situation for many months, and as per the reports in Germany, Manchester United have also joined the race to sign him this summer.
There is no denying that United’s defensive options were limited in the 2016-17 season, with Jones, Smalling, and Rojo unable to stay fit for most of the crucial games.
The Red Devils have already confirmed the transfer of Benfica defender Victor Lindelof, and it seems they could be heading for a bidding war with the London rivals over the £23.8m-rated defender.
Sokratis is out of contract in 2019, and Dortmund know that this is the best time to negotiate with the Premier League heavyweights to claim the largest transfer fee for the center-back.
Written by Pragadeesh Shanmugam 
United fan since Edwin Van der Sar denied Nicolas Anelka’s penalty to earn a dramatic Euro glory. Firmly believes that Lionel Messi deserves to win the Ballon d’Or until he plays this sport. One time writer for GiveMeSport and Roar. A regular contributor to Sportskeeda and BlameFootball.