Liverpool target Sokratis Papastathopoulos underwent a medical with Olympiakos this morning and will sign a two-and-a-half year contract with the Greek giants, according to LamiaNow.
Well, that didn’t last long.
Liverpool fans woke up on Monday nursing a heart-breaking FA Cup defeat to bitter rivals Manchester United and hoping that the signing of a new centre-back would remedy a worrying run of form.
It seemed, for a few hours at least, that an experienced, battle-scarred powerhouse of a defender was potentially on his way to Anfield.
The Athletic reported that Liverpool had made contact with Sokratis, a matter of months after the former Borussia Dortmund ace was let go by Arsenal.
But, barring a dramatic U-turn that would make even Didi Hamann blush, the 32-year-old free agent will be continuing his career back home in Greece instead.
LamiaNow claim that Sokratis could be unveiled as an Olympiakos player this afternoon. The 90-cap international will sign until the summer of 2023, while earning around £1 million a season (£20,000-a-week) in Piraeus.
Where Liverpool go from here, then, is anyone’s guess.
Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez were all missing at Anfield during a 3-2 loss in which youngster Rhys Williams looked well out of his depth.
Furthermore, while Fabinho and Jordan Henderson have done a respectable job at centre-back recently, Liverpool are badly missing their commanding, combative ways in the heart of midfield.
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