Premier League Rumors: Another Displaced Star Could Be Leaving Arsenal Soon

Mikel Arteta has had his share of ups and downs lately but it appears he will be in for more personnel problems. After addressing the fate of goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, another player has aired his grief and would be willing to quit if he is not needed.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos finds himself misplaced over at Arsenal with Arteta opting to use other players instead. Among the players given minutes at center-half berths are David Luiz and Shkodran Mustafi. Pablo Mari is also onboard plus the impending addition of William Saliba at the end of the season. With plenty of options, it appears that the Greek center back may have no role over in north London and Sokratis is ready to head out the exit, Goal.com reported.

“I don’t think about it, I think every day to be happy and help the team and in the end, we will see but what I say is that I am not a player who sits on a contract – I don’t need it,” Sokratis said.

Curiously, Sokratis showed Arteta that he could still be an asset. Against Portsmouth, he opened the scoring parade for the Gunners 2-0 in an FA Cup fifth-round win. But one thing noticeable about that much is Arteta was aggressively shuffling his players. It appears that he continues to find the right mix of players on the field following their disappointing performance at the Europa League.

Though Sokratis did not mention it, his point is that Arteta seems to have more than enough talent at his position and may end up sitting more on the bench. Obviously, he wants to still play in the field and if Arsenal has no role for him, he would rather take his act somewhere else where he can contribute.

With another player airing his frustration, the plot thickens on Arteta's watch. As mentioned in a previous post, it appeared the world's most expensive goalkeeper is headed out the door as well. But unlike Kepa, Sokratis has shown that he can still be an asset if given the right opportunity. The best the 31-year-old can do right now is extend his patience and hopefully get the same break that Mustafi got.