Sokratis Papastathopoulos is a Greek footballer who captains the Greek national team and plays as a center back for Olympiacos. Because his surname Papastathopoulos does not fit on his club shirt, his first name Sokratis is used instead; yet, he is known by the nickname Papa.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos’s Early Life

Sokratis Papastathopoulos was born in Kalamata, Greece, on June 9, 1988. Charalampos Papastathopoulos is his father, but his mother’s identity is still unknown. Papa has loved football since he was a boy, growing up in the second most populated city in the country. As a result, rather than opting for other options, he chose to pursue a career in football and enrolled in a local youth team, Aiantas Kalamatas. He quickly rose to the position of team’s most talented and skilled player.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos’s Football Career

Sokratis Papastathopoulos began his football career with AEK Athens. He made his debut in a Greek Cup match against PAS Giannina on October 26, 2005, scoring in the seventh minute to help lead AEK to a 3-0 victory. After that, however, he was loaned to Beta Ethniki club Niki Volou for six months to gain first-team football and valuable experience in a professional environment.

In a Super League match against local Athens rivals Panathinaikos in 2008, At the age of 19, he became AEK’s youngest-ever captain in a game against Panathinaikos, a local Athens rival.

On August 1, 2008, Sokratis agreed to join Genoa of the Italian Serie A for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut for Genoa on September 27, 2008, against Fiorentina, and scored his first goal for Genoa on October 5, 2008, at home against Napoli. The game ended in a 3-2 victory for Genoa, but Papastathopoulos was sent off in the 89th minute.

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On the 20th of July 2010, A.C. Milan’s website Confirmed that Papastathopoulos had joined the team after Genoa and Milan agreed to transfer Papastathopoulos to the club for €14 million, with the following payment schedule: Gianmarco Zigoni (half of his registration rights, valued at €3.75 million), Nnamdi Oduamadi (half of his rights, valued at €3.5 million), and Rodney Strasser (half of his rights, valued at €2.25 million) and €4.5 million in funds became the club’s first signing under new manager Massimiliano Allegri in a co-ownership deal.

On July 21, 2011, Sokratis moved to German club Werder Bremen on loan until the end of the 2011-2012 season, even though he was set to join Bremen permanently for a 5 million euro transfer fee.

On the eve of the 2013 Champions League Final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, Sokratis completed a 9.5 million euro transfer to Dortmund. He agreed to a five-year contract until 2018 while making his Dortmund debut in a pre-season friendly away to Swiss club Basel at St. Jakob-Park on July 10, 2013.

He won his first championship with the club on July 27th, when he came on as a substitute in a 4-2 victory over Bayern Munich in the 2013 DFL-Supercup, and on November 1st, In a 6-1 win over VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga, he scored his first goal for Dortmund.
On 3 January 2015, football news website Goal.com analyzed statistics to determine which players in Europe’s top five leagues had the highest tackle success rate in the first half of the 2014-2015 season; Papastathopoulos finished joint-third, alongside Hamburger SV’s Matthias Ostrzolek, having won 92.59 percent of all tackles.

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Later, on October 26, 2015, he extended his contract with Borussia Dortmund until 2019, following his first goal of the 2015-2016 Bundesliga season in a 2-1 away loss to 1 FC Koln on December 19, 2015.

In addition, he began the 2016-2017 season as the uncontested leader of BVB’s defense, but as the club’s captain, he lost the 2017 DFL-Supercup on penalties against Bayern Munich on August 5, 2017.

Sokratis had signed a long-term contract with the club for a reported cost of 17.6 million pounds agreeing to wear a number 5 shirt when he debuted with the club as a starter at Emirates Stadium on July 2, 2018, a 2-0 loss to champions Manchester City.

On October 4, 2018, he scored his first goal for the club, propelling Arsenal to a 3-0 win over Qarabag in the 2018-2019 UEFA Europa League.

He also started in the 2019 UEFA Europa League Final against Chelsea, which Arsenal lost 4-1 on May 29, 2019, and scored with a volley to give Arsenal the lead in a 2-0 away win over Portsmouth, which helped Arsenal reach the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time on March 2, 2020.

On August 1, 2020, Sokratis Papastathopoulos came on as a late replacement in the 2020 FA Cup Final against Chelsea, which Arsenal won for the 14th time. Sokratis and Mesut Ozil were conspicuously left out of Arsenal’s Premier League and Europa League teams for the 2020-2021 season, making them eligible for only one League Cup game between October and January.

After his contract was revoked “by mutual consent” on January 20, 2021, Arsenal confirmed that Sokratis would be departing the club. Arsenal’s technical director Edu remarked following the formal announcement on Wednesday, “He has been a vital member of our squad and has been a model professional throughout.” “We worked together to cancel his contract, and we wish Papa and his family all the best in the future.”

Sokratis Papastathopoulos signed a two-year contract with Olympiacos on January 25, 2021. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 home win over Asteras Tripoli on April 21, 2021.

International Careers

On February 1, 2008, Papastathopoulos was called up to the Greek senior team, and on February 5, 2008, he made his debut in a 1–0 friendly victory over the Czech Republic. Then, on May 27, 2008, Otto Rehhagel announced the Greece roster for UEFA Euro 2008, and Papastathopoulos was the unfortunate player who was cut from the tentative roster of 24 to the final 23-man selection.

After getting two yellow cards in the tournament’s opening game against co-hosts Poland, At UEFA Euro 2012, Papastathopoulos became the first player to be sent off, following what observers deemed two questionable decisions by referee Carlos Velasco Carballo.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos was nominated for Greece’s team for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in June 2014. He started each of the team’s group games, assisting in their clean sheet against Japan. Papastathopoulos scored his first international goal in the round of 16 against Costa Rica, equalizing in second-half stoppage time. However, the Greeks were finally defeated 5–3 by the Central American champions in a penalty shootout.

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Who is Sokratis Papastathopoulos married to?

Sokratis Papastathopoulos is a married man, according to his personal life. In 2014, he married Xanthippi Stamoulaki, with whom he had been in a long-distance relationship. Together, they have three children. They have a wonderful life together, sharing love and affection.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos Net Worth

In terms of Sokratis Papastathopoulos’ net worth, he has roughly 16 million euros (14.3 million pounds). He also earns a handsome salary in the millions of dollars every year. With Arsenal F.C., Papastathopoulos signed a three-year, 14,352,000-pound contract, with annual average pay of 4,784,000 pounds. In addition, his football career is his primary source of revenue.

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• AEK Athens
• FIFA World Cup
• Gemini
• UEFA Europa League