Arsenal are said to be close to agreeing a deal with Borussia Dortmund defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos, according to German club’s sporting director Michael Zorc.

It has been widely reported that the Gunners have already signed the Greek international, who has joined on a three-year-deal. This is after the Gunners agreed a fee of £16m with Dortmund for the centre-back.

However, despite already completing a medical, the 30-year-old is not officially an Arsenal player just yet, as the club are apparently unable to announce the deal due to Dortmund holding off the deal until the next financial year. This means the move will not be made official until at least July 1st.

When asked by Revier Sport if Sokratis is close to an Arsenal switch, Zorc revealed: “It tends to go there [the deal] that’s right, but things are not completely finalised yet.

“And I will not work with you now and talk about the rumour mill, which includes 27 new BVB players since the end of May!”

Sokratis’ father, Charalambos, previously claimed that Manchester United were in talks with Dortmund over a deal for the centre-back, saying he rejected the Red Devils in favour of a move to the Emirates.

“There was interest from United but he had to wait until July for them,” Charalambos told a Greek radio show.

“United have a very good relationship with Dortmund, the teams were talking more closely.

“He chose to go to Arsenal instead.”