Arsenal Legend Ray Parlour Lauds Summer Signing & Draws on Comparison With Icon Tony Adams
Former Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour has praised the club for signing a 'no-nonsense, traditional defender' in the form of Sokratis Papastathopoulos from Borussia Dortmund.
The 45-year-old, who went by the nickname The Romford Pelé during his playing career, even likened the Greece international centre back with club legend Tony Adams - who has a bronze statue outside Emirates Stadium.
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Arsenal's Head of Recruitment Sven Mislintat opted to raid his former club Dortmund once again this summer to partner Sokratis up with his former teammates Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The 30-year-old joined the club for roughly £15m, and Parlour believes that Sokratis will bring some much-needed steel to the club's often frail defensive line.
"Arsenal badly needed to improve their defence following last season and Emery has clearly made that a priority this summer," Parlour told bWIN (via the Express).
"I think Sokratis is a good signing and he will be a no-nonsense, traditional defender in the mould of Tony Adams rather than someone who wants to play out from the back.
"Sokratis is very experienced and he’s a big game player with great leadership qualities.
"The fact he knows Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan so well is a bonus too.”
Sokratis is expected to slot straight into Arsenal's first team next season, leaving Shkodran Mustafi and Laurent Koscielny to battle alongside 20-year-old Konstantinos Mavropanos for a place in Unai Emery's squad.
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Fellow signings Bernd Leno, Lucas Torreira and Stephan Lichtsteiner could also face little competition for places next season, while teenage midfielder Mattéo Guendouzi has been signed as one for the future.
