Arsenal ready to sanction defender's sale

Arsenal have opened the door for Sokratis Papastathopoulos to leave the club after falling out-of-favour under Mikel Arteta.

The Greece international has been ignored by Arteta since the season restart last month, and he has managed only one minute of game time across all competitions.

According to Football.London, the north London side have informed Sokratis that he is free to pursue a fresh challenge elsewhere as he is not in the plans of the manager.

Despite this, the experienced defender appears determined to fight for his future with the Gunners and could stay put for the remainder of his contract which expires in June next year.

Arteta has preferred a back three over the past few weeks and he has chosen the likes of Kieran Tierney and Sead Kolasinac ahead of Sokratis, who is a specialist central defender.

Tierney, David Luiz and Rob Holding are likely to make up the backline when the Gunners face London rivals Chelsea in the FA Cup final this weekend.