Sokratis Papastathopoulos has likened new Arsenal signing David Luiz to his former Borussia Dortmund teammate Mats Hummels.
The Gunners signed Luiz for £8 million on the final day of the summer transfer window, with Unai Emery strengthening his defence ahead of the 2019/20 campaign.
Sokratis, who partnered the Brazilian against Burnley on Saturday, has been praising his new teammate and drew comparisons to World Cup-winning defender Hummels.
As quoted by The Independent, he said:
I have known him for a lot of years. He also speaks some Greek and is a very good guy. I am happy also that we took a player like him, with experience.
When I was in Dortmund I played with Hummels, who has the same style as David. It was also a very good partnership and it is very good [now with Luiz].
It was his first game, it is important that we won and we can go from here.
Read Arsenal’s verdict
It’s definitely encouraging to see that Sokratis is relishing the season ahead with Luiz alongside him. Arsenal badly needed to sign a new centre-back, and it seems their first-choice player in this position is happy with his new foil.
Luiz has a reputation for being somewhat erratic, and when he has grabbed the headlines in years gone by, it has scarcely been because of his credentials as a defender.
However, it seems he is willing to give his all to the cause under Emery and provide Arsenal with the calming, assured presence that has been lacking in central defence since Laurent Koscielny’s injury problems began to hamper the team.
It is still early days for Luiz at Arsenal, but the signs so far have been promising, and Sokratis is clearly certain of his abilities given the comparisons to Hummels, an esteemed, illustrious centre-back.
